Across The Fence
by awesomeaislin
Summary: Happy is stuck spending her summer days out in the back yard, as per the rules of her foster mother. She is pretty content in the peace of the outdoors, until a voice begins to interrupt her everyday life. A Quintis AU Fic. It started more Quintis than Waige, but around chapter 6 or so it gets Waigey.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys! This just a little something I wrote about quintis. This doesn't follow the storyline of the actual show. It's like what if they met, sort of, as teenagers. They're both still geniuses and all it's just an au. Also, check out the collab I did with somuchmorethanpartners. Let me know what you think, thank you for reading, and send me your ideas. Pm me your out there theories regarding the episode from last night. I enjoy the company.**

 **-Aislin**

Sixteen year old Happy Quinn did not often spend time in her backyard. She had better things to do. She wasn't an indoor cat per se, but it was easiest to work on her machines without the glare of the summer sun. Today, however, was different. Her foster mother of three months had forced her to go outside.

 _Eileen_ believed that it was healthy for children to enjoy sunlight, so from now on Happy would have to spend at least 2 hours a day in the fresh air. Happy didn't love this, but it wasn't the worst thing a foster parent had had her do, and Eileen and her husband, James, weren't bad people. This was the best foster home she had lived in in a long time.

So, here she was sitting alone in the back yard with nothing to do but count the number of flowers in the yard and engineer whatever she could out of sticks, rocks, and grass. If she was honest with herself and didn't play the role of the rebellious teenager, she had to admit she didn't actually hate being out here. It was calm, and it gave her a break from the rough reality of her life.

She took a deep breath in, and let out a long sigh. This whole going outside thing could be good for her. It would be nice and relaxing for her. A nice break from humanity was all she needed to...

"Achoo," She sneezed.

"Bless you," A boy replied on the other side of the fence.

"Holy shit! What they hell? Who the hell is listening to me?," She shouted.

"Feisty," He observed.

"To creeps who are stalking me via my fence," She stated.

"What's your name?" He asked.

"We don't have to keep talking. We can just stop, and you can leave me alone, and then I can get back to my day, and you can do something else," She dismissed.

"Well, personally, I don't have anything to do, and so I think I'd like to spend this time outdoors talking to the girl on the other side of my fence," He laughed. "What's your name?"

"Happy," She replied.

"You don't sound particularly Happy, and it doesn't make sense for you to be telling me about your mood. I know we just met, sort of, but you seem like a pretty closed off person and-" He rambled confusedly.

"My name is Happy," She clarified. "Happy Quinn."

"Well then I'm _happy_ to meet you _Happy_ Quinn," He chuckled to himself. She could feel his smirk. "I'm Tobias M. Curtis, but I go by Toby." It was nice to be able to put a name to his voice, Toby's voice. "How old are you?" He tried to push the conversation for both of them.

"Sixteen, you?" She informed him quickly.

"I see you aren't a girl of many words. Lucky for you, I can talk for the both of us. I'm sixteen too," He chattered. "So whatcha doing outside?"

"Listening to my skin burn and tearing out grass," She answered sarcastically.

"I'm out here to work on my tan," he laughed equally sarcastically.

"Something tells me that was supposed to be a joke. Remember that I can't see you, idiot," She reminded him.

"I'll have you know that I am, in fact, a genius," He told her cheerfully.

"Being an actual genius myself, I'm gonna be honest and tell you I don't believe you," She disregarded his prior statement.

"I swear to God, who I don't really believe in, that I am," He shouted back to her.

"You're still an idiot," She replied.

"Surprisingly so," He agreed. "So what are you really doing out here? Also, you can't bullshit me. I know everything there is to know about the human psyche."

"My foster mother says that children need to spend time in the great outdoors. I have no where better to be, so here I am," She breathed out.

"I'm sure a girl with a pretty voice like yours has plenty of friends to spend time outdoors with,"He chuckled.

"Not really," She disagreed.

"Why not?"

"People are untrustworthy. They only let you down," She claimed.

"You're talking to me," He argued.

"For all I know, you're just a voice," She laughed. "Besides, this is just one conversation. It's not like we will speak again."

"One, as a med school student I can tell you that there are no people that are just voices. Two, I think we will," He insisted.

"Whatever you say. So why're you out here?" She changed the subject.

"I'm out of med school for the summer, and I gotta escape the 'rents somehow. So I plan on spending everyday here. Tell me, do you get kicked out of your house often?" He inquired.

"Everyday from now on," She declared.

"If that's not fate, then what is?" He asked. "You wanna be friends for the summer?"

"I suppose some human company wouldn't be awful."

* * *

"So they really believed you stole the computer?" Toby laughed in disbelief. "Where did they think the robot came from?"

"I don't know," Happy admitted. Despite her best efforts to keep distance between herself and Toby, already he was the closest friend she had. They had been talking for hours. "It freaked them out enough to return me though."

"So you really love machines, huh," Toby observed.

"I guess so, doc." She had coined the nickname a while ago. "You can always fix them. They never abandon you. They're better than people."

"I mean I know first hand that people can suck, but it sounds like it can get pretty lonely being surrounded only by mechanical objects. No conversations, no long term attachments," He tried to sympathize.

"Tools can't hurt you. Only people do. I just prefer their company, and I'm not the only one with problems. You're a goddamn gambling addict," Happy pointed out.

"It's mostly to get through school," He tried.

"You know the first step to solving a problem is admitting you have it," She sighed.

"I thought I was supposed human behavior expert here," He chuckled. She didn't respond. "Fine, I have a problem." She laughed at him, and he laughed with her.

"Happy, come inside!" Eileen called."It's time for dinner."

"I guess you gotta go?" Toby asked.

"Hear you tomorrow."

* * *

After a few weeks, they had become the closest of friends, but they never saw each other. They spent hours everyday on opposite sides of the fence. She learned all about his ex-girlfriend who had dumped him for some other med-school student. He declared the student, Quincy Berkstead, to be his nemesis. And he learned all about her life. He learned about the bad and the good, and he got deeper than anyone ever had.

Eileen didn't even have to force Happy out the door anymore. Happy just went out after breakfast. She only ever came in for lunch and dinner. She didn't have a clue what he looked like, but she didn't care all that much. She didn't think looks would change anything.

"What's up, doc?" She greeted as she arrived at the fence.

"Oh the usual, Hap," He said, but she couldn't ignore the waver in his voice.

"What's wrong?" She questioned.

"Nothing. I'm alright. I promise," He assured her. He couldn't exactly he hide the gasp of pain that came as he sat down.

"I swear to God, Toby, I will jump this fence," She shouted to him.

"I am fine," He murmured into the fence.

"I'm coming over," She announced.

"No, no don't. It's just a bruise. I promise I am fine. I can take care of it," He groaned.

"You can't stop me," She looked at the 7 ft tall fence in between them. She wasn't tall, but she could definitely get herself over this wall. She jumped to grab the top, and quickly pulled herself over. She didn't account for the fall back down to the ground. She landed right on top of him.

"Ow, my...you know, I would name a specific part of me that hurts but right now that's everything, so ow," He complained with his eyes shut.

"Don't be such a baby," She chastised turning to look at him. He opened up his eyes to meet hers. They were silent for a moment. Both were finally able to face to a name. They weren't just voices anymore. They were people.

"I expected you to be taller," He broke the silence.

"I expected you to be scrawnier," She retorted.

"I didn't expect you to be so..." He paused.

"So what?" She narrowed her eyes.

"You're just so pretty," He stuttered in awe. She rolled her eyes at him.

"Don't be so cheesy," She laughed. "And it doesn't matter because I'm going back over the fence soon and then you can go back to being just a voice." It wasn't as though she wasn't equally wowed by him, but she didn't do romantic relationships. She didn't want to let him in more than she already has.

"If that's what you want," He agreed in shock.

"Now, tell me what's wrong with you," She got to the point.

"I just got a little beat up last night. I am fine," He argued.

"Were you gambling?" She asked while picking up his arms to examine his wounds. She maneuvered his head, so she could better see his black eye. Growing up in the foster care system had taught her to examine all injuries and to disregard personal space if necessary.

"Maybe," He tried to stare at the ground.

"Doc, you need to stop," She nearly sounded upset, but that couldn't be true because Happy Quinn was never upset, or at least not outwardly. "You can't do this anymore. You keep getting hurt, and it's selfish. You need to be careful."

"What do you mean it's selfish? The only person I hurt by gambling is me, and in fact it doesn't normally hurt me. It's been helping me pay for school," He argued.

"Then get a regular job. I'm sure Starbucks would be willing to hire you, or burger king, or whatever. You don't need gambling to get through school," She reasoned.

"I'm an addict, Happy," He muttered.

"Then change," She ordered.

"I'm only hurting myself. It doesn't matter," He sighed.

"That's not true. What about your parents?" She questioned.

"You know very well that they don't care," He rolled his eyes.

"What about me?" She looked away from him for the first time since they had met.

"You don't get attached to people, Happy," He pointed out.

"I changed," She replied. "And you can too. Look, Doc, you're my best friend, and I've never had anyone like you in my life before. I don't want to lose that. Ok?"

"I'm your best friend?" He repeated slowly.

"Don't make me say it again."

* * *

"It's my birthday," he informed her through the fence.

"I'm not going to sing to you," She deadpanned. It had been a week since she had gone over the fence. They hadn't _seen_ each other since.

"I know, but I thought you might come over to this side of the fence again," He invited.

"You sure you want me to come over there?" She asked.

"I'm sure," He guaranteed.

"I'm coming," She announced, "So move out the way."

"Yes, ma'am." She could almost picture his sarcastic salute, the roll of his large brown eyes, and the way he straightened his back to match his statement. She quickly reached up and swung herself over the fence. Only this time she didn't land on Toby. Instead, she basically flung herself into him. They fell to the ground, her on top of him.

"I told you to move, you dumbshit," She groaned.

"Right because you're the one that got crashed into," He retorted."Also, you shouldn't insult the birthday boy."

She made a big show of rolling her eyes. Neither of them moved a muscle. "It's just another day of the year, Doc, but now you're a year older. it's just a way to measure the time."

"I think birthdays are special. They should be a cause for celebration. I mean I survived another year. That's gotta be a surprise for the world," He declared.

"Which is apparently why I'm over here," She laughed.

"Yes, and also I wanted to see you,"He informed her.

"We should get up," Happy pointed out.

"Probably," He agreed. The two of them stayed still.

* * *

Later, after Happy had texted Eileen that she was over at a friend's house(Eileen had been ecstatic), Happy and Toby were sitting in the shade of a tree in Toby's back yard. Happy had her back leaned against Toby. _Purely for comfort_ , she had convinced herself.

They reciting their favorite childhood stories. Right now Toby was rambling off the details of some adventures he had had with an Irish Genius named Walter. Apparently, the boys had been friends in their youth until Walter had moved away. They had supposedly gotten into all kinds of genius trouble together.

Happy had told him stories about her first good foster siblings and all the good foster homes. There weren't many stories, but there were enough to make her life look somewhat less depressing.

"So, we ended up building a bomb and blowing up that flower garden. It was awesome," He ended his story.

"You must have been a dangerous child to raise," She laughed against him. She turned to look at him, but found him already staring at her. He looked away quickly.

"Well, most geniuses are. Being a geniuses does things to you, you know," Toby informed her. "Like Walter was distant."

"And you're a condescending jerk," She added.

"Yes, and you're just plain angry," He teased.

She punched him in the stomach in response. Before he could yelp she interrupted, "Don't complain. You deserved it."

"And bossy," He muttered under his breath.

"What was that?" She raised her eyebrows.

"Nothing, nothing at all," He stuttered.

"That's what I thought."

* * *

It was getting dark when Happy finally decided it was time for her to leave. He of course didn't want that.

"You should stay. It's my birthday," He pleaded.

"I have to get back before Eileen puts dinner on the table," Happy reasoned standing up. He stood up next to her, and caught her hand before she could move to the fence.

"You could just stay," He suggested.

"I really couldn't and you know it," She took her hand away ignoring the crushed look on his face. She started to size up the fence. What happened next was unexpected to say the least.

She turned around quickly and said, "Happy birthday,Doc." Before she could change her own mind,She grabbed his shoulders and pulled him down to her. She kissed him gently, but urgently. When she let go, he was dumbfounded.

"I," he began.

"No," She quieted him. "Don't talk. Don't ruin it." She then turned around and jumped the fence as quickly as she could.

"Date friday?" He called hopefully.

"You know where I'll be."


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey guys! By request I decided to continue this story. I think I'll update once a week. I think every Tuesday will be a good schedule for me, and then I can write longer chapters and make sure they're good. I gotta set up a plan for where I want this to go. Let me know what you think and thank you for reading**

 **-Aislin**

She didn't come back to the fence the next morning, Monday morning, which worried him. He had spent two hours waiting on her. He was starting worry that she had changed her mind. She didn't let people in. She didn't trust anyone. How could he be so stupid to think he might be different than everyone else?

But, would she really not say anything about it? That didn't sound like her. She didn't like unnecessary hurt, and letting him hang without a word was much more hurtful than necessary. Had he done something wrong? Had he said something wrong? Had she simply changed her mind? He couldn't know because there was no way to contact her unless he jumped the fence, and broke into her foster family's home. That was illegal. He couldn't do that.

Ten more minutes passed as he wondered where she could possibly be. She could be mad at him. Or sick. Or dead in an alleyway. That's it. He was going over the fence. He knew her foster mother was at work today. If there any chance that she wasn't ok, he was going to find out. Just because they had only seen each other twice didn't mean he wasn't completely head over heals in love with the girl on the other side of the fence. Over the few weeks they had been talking to each other, Toby had noticed how truly perfect she was. Of course, she would be the one to not be sure of him.

He climbed over the fence just as she had the day before. God, she had made this look so easy. When he finally landed on the other side, he stopped to take in her yard. It was the same size as his, but hers had more flowers. He also noted the many machines made out of sticks laying around the yard. Apparently, when they were talking, he wasn't her only focused. He looked up at the house that was nearly identical to his own. That was a problem. He's have to climb up to the roof, figure out which room was hers, and climb in.

* * *

"What the hell are you doing here?" She bolted upright in her bed.

"You didn't show up to the fence today," He explained. The sun shone through her window.

"Because I'm sick," She explained. "Eileen told me I had to stay inside, and that she'd check the cameras in the backyard to make sure I did. I mean it's a little crazy, but she's just looking out for me."

"You're sick? Are you ok?" He asked.

"I'm fine. Why did you think breaking into my house was a good idea?" She questioned.

"I just wanted to make sure everything was alright. I can leave now," he offered. He then turned towards the window to leave again.

"You can stay," She sighed. "I suppose I could use someone to keep me company. I mean you can't expect me to entertain myself all day."

"Of course not," He laughed turning around to face her. Her room wasn't very big. She had nails, hammers, screwdrivers, screws, etc. scattered around the room. Her twin sized bed was pushed against the wall, and she was lying as close to the wall as she possibly could.

"Well, don't just stand there," She demanded.

"I don't follow," He informed her.

"You can sit here with me," She invited.

"You don't have to ask me twice."

* * *

"I'm getting a new foster brother tomorrow," She announced. "He's supposed to be another genius which is why Eileen and James said yes because I've been such a _pleasure,_ " she put bunny ears around her words, "to have around the house."

"I'm sure you have been a pleasure to have around the house," He chuckled. "Are you excited to have a foster brother?"

"It won't make difference. I don't really get along with people, remember?" She sighed and rolled her eyes at him.

"You get along just fine with me," He pointed out.

"An outlier," She decided.

"I mean I'm just saying that you don't know you won't like him," He told her.

"I guess," She agreed.

"My cousin is coming next week, and I can tell you for sure that you're gonna hate her," He laughed. "You might like my uncle though, and that kid Walter I told you about found me online and is coming to town next week too. You're gonna like Walter."

"Tell me about them," She murmured She moved her head so she could use his shoulder as a cushion. Her pillow was pretty nice, but it was nowhere near as comfortable as Toby.

"Very bossy," He commented.

"Hey," She sniffled. "I'm sick." She grabbed his hand and put it on her head. "See? It's warm."

"Very warm, actually," He started to feel concerned. "Do you want me to make you some soup? I'm getting you a glass of water."

"Don't," She stopped him. She wrapped her arms around him. He couldn't complain about her actions, but someone needed to take care of her.

"I will be back before you know it," he promised. "While I'm gone phone Eileen, and tell her that your doctor friend will be taking care of you. I don't want her to freak out when she sees me jumping the fence to come see you." He pushed her cell phone into her hands, and began to leave the room.

"My nearly-doctor boyfriend," She corrected sleepily.

"We're gonna circle back to what you just said as soon as I get back," He noted as he left.

* * *

"Yeah, don't worry about me, Eileen. He is nearly a doctor. Yeah, I'll see you later. I'll make sure he knows. Bye," Happy said into her phone. She took the phone away from her ear, and held it out for him to take. He carefully placed the soup on top of her dresser, and did the same with her phone. He then gave her a glass of water.

"You need to drink all of that," He informed her. Happy took small sips in between conversation.

"She says you can stay for dinner if you want," Happy offered.

"Do you want me to stay?" He asked.

"I wouldn't be opposed to it," She decided.

"So we be dating?" He questioned.

"Mm," She clarified.

"Ok," He nodded his head. "Alright. Ok."

"What's wrong with you, idiot?" She stopped him from continuing to 'ok'.

"I'm just shocked." She raised an eyebrow. "Good shocked," he clarified. "Do you want this soup, girlfriend?"

"Yes," She accepted, "And don't." She stopped for a second to figure out what she wanted to say. "Just don't ruin this"

"I won't," He promised. He placed the tray of soup onto her lap and moved to sit down facing her.

"I'm tired," She groaned.

"You have to eat, Happy," He placed a hand where her leg was. "If you don't eat, you won't get better, and if you don't get better then you won't be able to work on whatever you are working on tomorrow. And you won't get to fully meet you new foster brother."

"You'd come back, if I were sick," She pouted. It was probably bad how much he was enjoying sick Happy. She was so open. She wasn't hiding from anyone.

"I'll come back anyway. You couldn't get rid of me. Even if you tried," He declared.

"I don't wanna eat," She crossed her arms and glared at him.

"Please,"He begged.

"No," She dismissed.

"I will feed it to you," He tried.

"No."

"Happy, I made you this soup," He cried. "You at least have to try it."

"Fine," She opened her mouth wide and raised her eyebrows in a way that said ' _I'm waiting'._

He played along. He picked up the spoon he had laid next to the bowl minutes before. He filled it with soup, and sang, "Here comes the choo choo train _Chugga Chugga Choo Choo_!" She nearly choked on her soup.

She snatched the spoon out of his hands, "You're supposed to be a doctor. You're not supposed to nearly kill me."

"I'd like to point out that what nearly killed you was my amazing sense of humor," He grinned.

"What sense of humor? You're a dumbshit," She teased.

"Well, you're dating me," He countered.

"Touché."

* * *

After she had finished her soup and he had done her dishes, Happy found herself more tired than she had ever been in her entire life. She would sleep, but she didn't usually fall asleep with the door open. She didn't trust the black of night. But it was day time, and today she wasn't alone.

"You can go to sleep, Happy," He whispered in her ear. He was laying down on the bed. The bed was so small that in order to fit the both of them Happy had to completely fold herself around Toby, not that she minded. Her head was resting on his chest.

"I can't," She mumbled into him.

"You can," He assured her. "I'll wake you up if anything happens. You can trust me."

"Just talk to me. Tell me about your cousin and uncle and Walter and stuff," She pushed.

"Is this your way of saying that I bore you?" He laughed. She could not only hear it, but feel it. "Alright, so my cousin's name is Paige. She is pretty and popular and very EQ, but she means well. She's a little older than you and me. She's was in college, but she has to drop out this year for reasons they haven't told us yet. My bet is surprise pregnancy. You're probably not gonna love that she'll try to get you to talk about your feelings. You'll get along with my uncle, Cabe, though. He is a man of few words. And Walter. I don't know. Walter is just..." She drifted off somewhere after that.

* * *

She woke up to the sound of Eileen's voice. "Thank you for coming to take care of her today. Though, I did see you jump that fence."

"I'm so sorry Mrs. Davids I just didn't know where she was, and we've been talking through that fence everyday for weeks, and when she wasn't there I got worried," Toby rambled quietly. He was drawing little patterns in her arm. She could tell that he didn't know she was awake. She hadn't opened her eyes yet.

"Toby, we have been neighbors for years," She could feel her foster mother's smile. "Just call me Eileen. So, you're nearly a doctor?"

"Very nearly," He chuckled. "Once I finish my next semester at Harvard, I should be able to graduate, and then I can come back here to intern in the hospital."

"That's very impressive. When Happy wakes up, can you let her know that I'm home?" Eileen asked. Happy felt Toby nod. Once she heard, Eileen go down the stairs Happy moved her head to look Toby in the eyes.

"You're awake," He observed. "Are you feeling any better?"

"Mm," She sighed. "Should I find it weird that Eileen was totally fine with you being in my bed?"

"Eileen has known me longer than she has known you," Toby chuckled. "She trusts me. Besides you were just sleeping. Nothing bad."

"How long was I out?"

"Four hours," He responded.

"Were you awake the whole time?" She questioned.

"I drifted off somewhere in the middle, but only for an hour or so. I mean someone's gotta stay awake to keep you safe," He informed her.

"Right," She rolled her eyes. He planted a kiss on her forehead. "And that would be you?"

"Well, I don't see anyone else jumping your fence and breaking into your room," He answered. "You should be grateful you have someone so amazing to be your hero. Are you ticklish?"

"I don't see why that matters," She looked up at him questioningly.

"So that's a yes," He laughed. "Tell me you're grateful that I'm here. I'll tickle you until you say it."

"No," She grumbled starting to move away from him. He started to tickle at her sides. "Stop, Stop, Stop!" She yelled. He continued. "Fine, fine, i'm glad you're here. Thank you for taking care of me." He stopped, and she kissed his cheek quickly.

"Ew, ew, I'm gonna get sick," he yelled.

"Please, you're the doctor here," She smirked. "You've been around me enough that if you're going to sick, you would have been infected already."

"You don't know that," He pouted.

"I think I do."

* * *

Toby and Happy were sitting next to each other at the dinner table. James and Eileen were sitting opposite them. Happy was dressed in her pajamas, as she had been all day.

"This is delicious, Mrs. Davids," Toby complimented."I heard you're getting another foster child tomorrow, are you excited?"

"Well, actually, we were meaning to bring this up with Happy anyway, but it doesn't really make a difference that you're here too, Toby. I assume you would have heard anyway," Eileen smiled and raised her eyebrows at Happy.

"We are adopting the new boy, and we were hoping you would let us adopt you too. What do you say Happy?" James beamed at her.

"I...uh...You want to keep me?" Happy asked shocked.

"We do. You've been a joy to have, and we want to be a real family. What do you think? Do you want to stay here with us?" Eileen pressed.

"I...yeah, I'd like that. Thank you," She smiled wider than Toby had ever seen her smile. Eileen and James grinned at each other. They finally had a daughter of their own.

* * *

After dinner, Happy walked Toby outside and to the fence. "Big day for you," He pointed out. "Boyfriend and adoption all in one day."

"It's not that big a deal," She dismissed staring at the ground below her.

"It is a big deal. It means that you get something permanent for once. Everyone needs a home," He smiled.

"I guess so," She chuckled quietly. "You have to go back over the fence now?"

"I do, but I'll be back tomorrow, and I put my number in your phone, so maybe I won't be breaking in tomorrow?" He grinned hopefully.

"Maybe," She smirked. She pressed a quick kiss to his lips, and pulled away. "Ok, go," She ordered.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Hap. I hope you feel even better then."


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey guys! How's it going? I'm sick so who knows how this is. I mean you can let me know. I was just going to leave it at a 1000 words but then I thought screw that. The people who read this deserve better than that. So, I wrote 2000 words. You should all be proud of me. I pulled this out of my sick brain. Let me know what you think, send me your suggestions, and thank you for reading. Love you guys**

 **-Aislin**

Happy didn't love the idea of new people crowding the house, but she supposed it wasn't her choice. She also wasn't 100% sure of the decision to be adopted, to have real parents. Afterall, her first shot at that hadn't exactly gone over well. In fact, it had gone down in flames. Her mother had died, and her father had left her. Not that she blamed him. She supposed that being adopted couldn't be at all bad. It meant that she would have a place to stay no matter what, which couldn't be bad, right?

The doorbell rang and pulled her out of thoughts. That was probably the new boy. "Happy, come down and meet Sylvester," Eileen called up.

"Coming," She responded quickly. Slowly, she got up from her project, and moved down the stairs. In the threshold stood on of the biggest young boys she had ever met. Of course, she had never really cared about how other people looked, but she couldn't help but observed. The boy, Sylvester she supposed, was wearing a checkered shirt and a sweater vest. He had dark brown wavy hair with dark brown eyes that were covered in glasses.

"Happy, I'd like you to meet your new brother," Eileen beamed. Sylvester seemed intimidated by Happy's leather jacket and dark jeans. He nervously reached his hand out to shake hers.

"I...I...um..." He stuttered.

"You don't have to be scared of me," Happy started only be interrupted by Toby bursting in through the front door.

"Don't listen to her, kid. She can be very scary when she wants to be," Toby declared.

"You're here early," She observed.

"Just couldn't wait to come hang out with you. You're not sick anymore?" He continued the conversation.

"Nope, I'm all good," Happy smiled.

"So, Sylvester," Eileen fixed the focus back on Sylvester. "This is our neighbor and Happy's," She paused to waggle her eyebrows, "boyfriend."

"I'm Toby," He introduced himself.

"Happy, Sylvester is going to be spending the day getting to know you, is that alright?" Eileen smiled over at Happy. Happy knew that she wasn't _really_ asking her opinion on the matter.

"Yeah, yeah, of course," Happy agreed. "Come on, boys," She ordered. "We'll go outside and hang out. Toby, you can lead Sylvester out there. I'm going to grab my tools and a project."

* * *

When she arrived in the back yard, she found Sylvester babbling about math to Toby and Toby just listening. She was pretty sure Toby had never been this quiet in his life. He was probably just letting the other boy open up to him.

"So, if you account for yard size, flower counts, and average number of bees in this neighborhood, there are at least 367 bees in this yard at this time," Sylvester rambled.

"Interesting, did you know that Bees have five eyes - two compound eyes and three tiny ocelli eyes," Toby inputted.

"Did you know that all worker bees are female?" Happy entered the conversation. She gave a small smile to Sylvester as she sat down next to Toby.

"Of course you would know that," Toby laughed. "Ever the women's rights activist."

"Well, there's no reason not to be. Women are not biologically inferior to men in anyway, and statistically girls do better in school than boys," Sylvester informed them.

"I think I'm gonna like you, Sylvester," Happy grinned.

* * *

Happy found out alot more about Sylvester that day. He was 12. His parents had died 5 months ago, and he had been surprised at the sudden adoption. It was statistically improbable afterall. He was nervous, but Happy didn't find it too annoying. By the time he went to bed, Happy felt as though she knew Sylvester to not feel threatened. Though looking at him, maybe she should have been able to make that judgement immediately.

Her phone began to ring. She didn't need to look at the caller ID to know who it was. There was only one person who would call her who wasn't already in this house. She picked up the phone. "Awfully clingy, aren't you?" She teased. "We saw each other less than an hour ago."

"Aw, you know me, Hap. Can never go too long without seeing you," She could almost feel his obnoxious smile. She could picture the toothy grin.

"You aren't seeing me right now, dipshit," She chuckled.

"Well, just hearing your voice is enough for me. Brings me back to our first meeting. Do you remember it?" He lamented.

"It's hard not to. It was three weeks ago, and I have an eidetic memory," She pointed out.

"Alright, smartass, I get it," He laughed into the phone. "You aren't a romantic. Don't worry, Happy. The more time you spend with me, the more sappy you'll become."

"I highly doubt that, Doc," She told him.

"Yeah, me too, but a guy can dream, right?" He taunted.

"You want me to be different than I am?" She asked.

"I was joking. You're perfect," He explained.

"True," She agreed. "So, what's up?"

"Why?" He questioned her back.

"Well, there's gotta be a reason you called," Happy informed him.

"What a guy can't just call his girlfriend at 9 O'Clock at night?" He paused for a moment. "I can feel you raising your eyebrow at me. Ok, ok, so I had ulterior motive."

"Which was?" Happy pressed.

"Patience, my lovely butterfly," He chastised.

"Retire that nickname," She demanded.

"Immediately, my turtle dove," He giggled through the phone. Happy hadn't known that boys were capable of giggling. God she was dating a nerd.

"Curtis, I swear to God I'll break up with you," She threatened.

"Noted," He informed her.

"Now, your ulterior motive?" She prompted.

"I wanted to know if maybe you and Sly wanted to come and meet my cousins at the ice cream parlor next week. We aren't meeting at the house because, well, my mother is there, and we're having some sort of meeting, but I want you to be there," He babbled.

"Sly?" She repeated.

"He's ok with the nickname."

"Did you bully him into it?"

"Contrary to popular belief, I am not a manipulative jerk. I asked the kid if he had any nicknames. He said no. I suggested Sly. He didn't seem to care," Toby explained.

"We'll be there."

"Good. And I'll pick you up for our first actual date on Friday? Say 5?"

"I've got no where else to be."

* * *

She supposed she should be nervous. Any normal girl would be. A normal would be frantically checking her hair and makeup fixing anything that wasn't completely perfect. A normal would have checked her outfit at least 8 times prior this moment. But she wasn't normal.

Sylvester, on the other hand, was panicking for the both of them. In the course of the week, Happy and he had become siblings in every sense of the world. He made sure she didn't do anything that was too outright dangerous, and, in turn, she pushed him to do things he was previously too afraid to do.

"Happy, it's not safe to go out after dark. Especially not since you're a teenage girl," Sylvester chattered.

"I'm not going out after dark," She rolled her eyes. "He's picking me up at 5. It's summer. It'll be light out."

"It could get dark before you come back," Sylvester pointed out.

"Except for the fact that I'm supposed to be back for around 9 pm. It won't be dark enough that I won't be able to see," She argued. "And either way, I'll be with Toby."

"The teenage gambler," Sylvester snorted. "Please, like he's the model of reliability and stability."

"For your information, he hasn't gambled in a while," She defended. "And also, you need to stop. You're worrying more about Eileen. I'll be fine."

"Oh right I forgot. You're Happy Quinn. You could beat up anything," Sly grinned.

The doorbell pulled them out of their moment. "He's early," Happy observed. She and Sly walked down the stairs to answer the floor. Eileen was out at the moment, much to her despair. She was going to miss all of her new daughter's firsts. Happy opened the door. "You're early," She announced.

"Was too excited to wait any longer," Toby grinned.

"What if I hadn't been ready?" She questioned.

"You're you. You'd be ready. I bet you've been ready for hours. I bet you didn't even change your outfit for this," He theorized. They had only communicated through the fence that day. Toby had some sort of superstition, and it didn't make a difference to Happy.

"You don't know that," Happy contended.

"Come on. Tell the good doctor the truth," He chuckled.

"In your dreams."

* * *

"You got us tickets to a monster truck rally?" She asked moving to look up at him. He took her hand and started to bring her into the stadium.

"Wanted to take you somewhere you'd like," He explained.

"That must of cost some money," She pointed out.

"If you're asking if I gambled, I didn't. I just have money left over from my gambling days. Enough to pay for school, and give you at least a few nice dates," He said sincerely.

"Okay," She agreed.

"Come on, you're gonna love it," He grinned as he pulled her to her seat.

* * *

"That was so cool," She gushed on the way home. He had recently received his driver's license, and he was attempting to keep his eyes off her and on the road. He was driving his mother's car. It was practically his. She hadn't driven that car since Toby was twelve.

"I'm glad you think so," He smiled out the windshield. He sneaked a peek at her as he drove. She was staring at him. "You're beautiful, you know," He told her before turning back to the road.

"I'm not," She denied.

"You're beautiful," He repeated grabbing her hand from where it was on the center console.

"Maybe to you," She allowed. She didn't pull away.

"Definitely to me," He decided. He took away his hand and placed it back on the wheel. Safety first, as Sly would say. "You wanna get some ice cream?"

"Ice cream has never been a bad idea," She smiled.

* * *

"I didn't pick you to be a cookies and cream kinda girl," He informed her. "That actually says alot about you. It shows that deep-"

"Doc, I don't need your analysis. I just like the flavors I like. It is what is is," Happy interrupted.

"See, that isn't true. You haven't tried every flavor in this shop. You haven't tried every available option. Nobody has. People pick the flavors of the colors they like first and that changes their judgment of it," Toby explained.

"You're wrong," She stated.

"I'm never wrong," He argued.

She rolled her eyes. "I'm telling you that you're wrong. When I was eight, I was in a foster family for about a year straight. I had this friend, and one day she decided she wanted to try every kind of ice cream just so she could know what they all tasted like. And so I found my favorite," She explained.

"It still says alot about you," Toby shrugged.

"Like what?" Happy questioned.

"Like you have a sweet tooth," He offered.

"Wow, is that the kind of stuff you're learning as a future doctor. Because that kind of stuff is just wow. " Happy teased him.

"Oh shush," He chided, "I'm just trying to make you think I'm interesting."

"Ok, then wow me," She ordered.

"Do you like chocolate ice cream?" He asked.

"You tell me Mr. Amazing Shrink," She laughed.

"Well, I do," He informed her. "As you can see by my choice of ice cream, and I think I have a way of testing whether or not you like chocolate ice cream or not."

"Oh yeah?"

"Don't punch me," He warned her before leaning in to kiss her. She moved closer to him automatically moving so much that she nearly fell off her own chair. He of course leaned far forward to, but before long he actually fell.

Happy laughed so hard her sides hurt. "Well at least now I know how to make you laugh," He sighed from the floor.

"Come on, Dumbass," She called picking up her ice cream and moving to leave the shop. "If you can stay standing I might even let you kiss me again."

"Is that a promise?"


	4. Chapter 4

Hey guys! I liked writing this. I have major plans for how this fic is going to go. I am so excited. Get ready to meet Walter in the chapter after this one. Though, I'm going to leave Megan out of this because there is no way I can swing Melvester in this, you know? Like Sylvester is 12 and Megan is older than Walter who in this is 18. Can't do that. Anyway, let me know what you think and send me your ideas

-Aislin

Happy tugged at her jacket. Her fingers had been tapping on her knee ever since they had gotten in the car with Eileen. But she wasn't nervous. She didn't get nervous. Especially not just to meet Toby's family. I mean what was so intimidating about an uncle and a cousin. A popular cousin. An EQ cousin. A cousin who would judge her. Ok, so maybe be Happy was a little bit nervous.

"Happy, sweety," Eileen addressed her. The car was parked just outside of the ice cream shop. "Just give me a call whenever you two want to be picked up, ok?"

"Ok, thank you," Happy replied bluntly. She quickly got out of the car with Sylvester on her tail. She paused for a minute at the door of the shop. She could see Toby inside. She took a deep breath and forcefully pushed through.

Toby looked up and smiled at her and Sly. She moved the table he was sitting at and sat beside him. He was alone. "Hey, Hap, Sly," He grinned as he greeted them. "Let me get you ice cream."

"No, no," Sylvester waved him off, "Eileen gave us some money. Happy promised me were getting the biggest size."

"Sounds fair enough to me," Toby laughed. He took a huge spoonful of his ice cream as Happy and Sylvester went to the counter to chose mint chocolate chip and Happy decided chocolate chip cookie dough. When they returned to the table Toby was dramatically clutching his head and hissing in pain. Happy gave him a questioning look. "Brainfreeze," He hissed in agony.

"You're such a baby," Happy laughed.

"Hey! Don't be mean. A brain freeze is a painful thing," Toby winced in pain.

"Please, you did this to yourself, and now you're crying over it. You're such a baby," She teased.

"No, I think-" Toby started to defend himself.

"The girl's right, Toby," A gruff voice interrupted them. "Any moron knows how to avoid a brainfreeze. Just because you're a genius doesn't mean you can ignore basic knowledge."

Happy turned around to see an older man dressed in a suit, and a younger girl wearing a short skirt and a blouse. These people were obviously Toby's uncle and cousin, Cabe and Paige Gallow.

"Guys," Toby smiled even wider, if that was possible."This is my girlfriend Happy Quinn and Sylvester Dodd her adoptive brother." He put an arm around Happy and Happy gave Cabe and paige a very small smile. The kind of smile that made sure that they knew she wasn't an open person.

"It's very nice to meet you Sylvester and Happy. I'm Paige," The caramel haired girl greeted.

"I'm Cabe Gallow," Cabe stated.

"So, Happy how old are you?" Paige asked brightly.

"16," She responded curtly.

"And what about you, Sylvester?" She looked over at the younger boy. Toby shot Happy a look as if to say 'play nice'. She shot a look back that told him 'I'm trying.'

"I'm 12," Sylvester responded happily.

"Tell me about yourself," Paige pressed.

"Well, I joined Happy's family a week ago. She's been with them a little longer than that, but we've both been adopted which is good," Sylvester rambled. "We're both geniuses. Happy loves machines more than anything else, and I do math."

"Wow, it's nearly unbelievable that three geniuses would end up meeting each other, and that two would be adopted by the same family," Paige giggled.

"So, Paige how's school? You're going back soon, right?" Toby changed the subject.

"School was good," Paige smile faltered a little. "But I'm not going back. I'm dropping out."

"Paige, are you sure you want to discuss this out in the open like this?" Cabe grabbed her arm and interrupted her.

"As if Toby wouldn't have told them as soon as he heard?" Paige scoffed. "He can't keep a secret."

"I take a offense to that," Toby defended. Happy could tell he was nervous about whatever secret his family had. He had started to grip her shoulder tighter as soon as Paige had mentioned dropping out of school. "What's going on?"

"I'm not going back to school in the fall because I-" She stopped to think about what she wanted to say. "I am pregnant."

"Oh," Toby loosened his grip on Happy who was pretending to devote all of her attention to her ice cream. "Congratulations?"

"Thanks I guess."

* * *

"Happy, may I ask you something?" Cabe asked. They were sitting on a bench in the town park watching the others play around on the playground. Well, to be more accurate they were watching Toby and Paige bully Sylvester into playing on the playground. Happy had refused to take part, and Cabe had claimed that if she didn't have to then he didn't have to.

Happy shrugged her shoulders in response. "You're a very closed off person. You obviously don't like to let people in, which is reasonable, people are clumsy and they wreck your life. Why did you get caught up with a guy who can tell you more about the human psyche than anyone else alive? That's gotta be bad for keeping the world out." Cabe observed.

"I don't know. He just kind of forced his way in," She shrugged her shoulders yet again.

"You're a smart girl," He smiled. "Why did you let him in?"

"I guess I started to realize that being a robot isn't any way to live your life," She kept her eyes trained on Sly and Toby playing on the playground. She couldn't miss the way Sylvester's eyes were alight with both fear and excitement, the way he was grinning at Toby, and Toby's apparent joy at being able to play with the young boy. "Why did you start working for homeland?"

"I wanted to help people," He sighed. "I got mixed up somewhere in the middle. I upset a few people who I cared about, but I think I'm back on the right track."

"That's good," Happy gave him a small smile. "How long are you and Paige going to be in town?"

"We're moving back here," He answered quickly."I figure it's best for her to be around family."

"It's a smart move," She decided. She looked up at the sky for a minute. It was a bright sunny day. While she was distracted, Toby took the opportunity to pull her up off the bench. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" She questioned calmly. She did in the way Toby liked to refer to as scary calm.

"I'm making sure you enjoy this beautiful day," He beamed at her as he dragged her over to the swings. He sat down on a swing, and pulled her so she was sitting on it with him.

"I was enjoying it," She argued. "And what did we say about PDA?"

"Well, as I recall it you said not to do it unless it was strictly necessary, and I think this mission is necessary," He retorted.

"How so?" She challenged. He wrapped his hands tighter around her waist. Secretly, she didn't mind.

"I gotta make sure my girlfriend has as much fun as possible on our days out. Otherwise she might get bored of me," He laughed. She wrapped her fingers around his wrists.

"Don't talk about me as if I'm not here," She ordered. She could feel his breath on the back of her neck, but it wasn't making her tense. In fact, she was finding it relaxing.

"Okay," He agreed. "I can tell that you don't like Paige very much."

"I don't, but then again it takes me a while to warm up to people," Happy admitted.

"Why don't you like her?" He pressed.

"Why don't you just shrink me?" She raised her eyebrows.

"Well, I'm a behaviorist, but I can't read your mind," He pressed his nose against her shoulder, and closed his eyes. "Tell me?"

"She looks at me as if I'm something she is going to fix," Happy admitted. "I don't like it. I don't want her to fix me."

"She'll soon realize that you don't need fixing," Toby promised.

"What if I do need fixing?" She looked back at Sly and Paige once again. She had never been that joyful or carefree. She was also cautious and quiet.

"Well, I don't think you do," She could feel his smile on her back. "But, if you did, then I would be here. And you can trust me."

"Can I?"

"Well, I am a doctor and doctors are in charge of fixing people," He chuckled. "Of course you can trust me."

"If you say so," She looked towards the ground.

"I might not have your complete trust today, but one day, Happy Quinn, I will have it," He swore.

"That is pretty creepy," She smiled.

"I was going for sweet," He laughed.

Sylvester and Paige ran up to them. Sylvester was completely out of breath. Paige was merely flustered. "Happy! Happy!" Sylvester captured her attention. "Paige invited us to the amusement park with her and Toby tomorrow. Do you think we can go?"

Happy tossed her phone to Sly in response. He didn't catch it and it ended up on the ground. Fortunately, there was no damage done. Sylvester picked up her phone, and shot her a questioning look. "Call Eileen," She ordered. "If she says yes, we'll go." Sylvester and Paige ran away from the swing set with the phone in hand. It was hard to remember that Paige was 19.

"He likes her," Happy noted quietly to Toby.

"Wow, how'd you figure that out? You must be a genius," He teased sarcastically. He moved his hands to tickle her a little bit. She hit him as hard as she could.

"Oh shush," Happy pushed his hands away from her. She wouldn't give him the satisfaction of laughing."If Sly likes her, maybe I will eventually."

"You know, for a genius, often your logic makes no sense whatsoever," Toby wrapped his hands back around her waist.

"Probably how I ended up dating you," She shrugged.

"Hey!" He complained. "I think you'll find I am a catch." He made a big show of batting his eyelashes and modeling his face. Happy rolled her eyes. From across the playground, Sylvester shot them the thumbs up. "I guess you get to spend more time with your catch tomorrow."

"If we can consider you a catch, then yes," Happy chuckled.

"You don't think I'm a catch?" He asked innocently. He tightened his grip on her.

"I'm not so sure," She baited him. She then took his hands off of her waist and stood up. She turned around to face him. He could see the playful glint in her eyes.

"Oh, yeah?" He didn't move from the swing, but he had to try very hard to keep the grin from appearing on his face. "What can I go to makeup your mind?"

"Well, if you're such a catch," She paused for effect. "Then you should be able to catch me." And with that she sprinted away from him. He took a moment to shake his head at the girl he already knew he was in love with before chasing after her.

* * *

"Jesus, Happy," Toby gasped when he had finally caught up to her ten minutes later. To say he wasn't in shape was probably an understatement. He hadn't even caught up to her really. In reality, she had stopped underneath a tree taking pity on him. "How are you not even out of breath?"

"So, we can agree you aren't much of a catch?" She laughed. He took her hand and plopped down underneath the tree. He pulled her down with him. He then wrapped an arm around her and pressed a kiss to her head.

"Seriously, Hap, what were you doing when I was sitting on the other side of that fence? How are you so in shape?" Toby questioned.

"When you're in the foster care system, you have to learn how to run faster than anyone else. You always need to be able to escape," She revealed. She looked up at him briefly before staring back down at the ground. "I guess I don't need it anymore though."

"It's still a useful skill," He hugged her closer to him.

"You know what else is a useful skill?" She asked moving her face closer to his.

"What?" He responded quickly, though he was nearly certain his knew the answer.

"This," She grabbed his face and pulled it to hers. They didn't leave the tree for at least an hour.


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey guys! How goes it? I'm actually patting myself on the back right now on getting this done early. So, I managed to watch the episode, but I couldn't watch that incredible quintis kiss on repeat. Damn college tours and driving to Washington DC and crap. It'll probably be worth it in the long run, but you know. I gotta complain over the little things. I mean I am the police dog of finding things to complain about. That episode killed me. I plan on watching it everyday this week. I have each of my family members in a time slot to watch it with me. That quintis kiss killed me though,**

 **-Aislin**

"Wow," Toby grinned over at the small asian girl standing with her hands on her hips. She glared up at him defiantly. "Is the great Happy Quinn afraid of roller coasters?"

"Of course not, I'm just smart enough to know what is mechanically sound. And that glorified toy train is not mechanically sound," She answered.

"To me it just sounds like you're a being a chicken," He teased. "If you were really brave, we would be on that roller coaster right now."

"You baiting me is not going to work," Happy rolled her eyes. "I am above that."

"Aw," Toby cooed. "Look at you using psych words. How professional. Tell me was it hard to learn that with your chicken brain?"

"Do you really think that mocking my intelligence is going to make me want to go on a roller coaster with you?" She laughed. "I'm not going on because that thing was not built correctly. I am not going on something that isn't built correctly. It's an insult to my skills."

"Who's a cute wittle baby?" He crowed. "Don't you want to be a big, bwave, girl?"

"You're playing with fire, Doc," She warned. He approached her cautiously. The last thing he wanted was for her to assault him. His old friend Walter would arrive in one hour, and he wasn't going to miss that because he was in the hospital.

"If Paige can get Sly to eat amusement park food, I guarantee that I will get you on this damn coaster," He promised. A flash of worry appeared briefly on her face, but she quickly set her expression back to determined.

"I am not going on the roller coaster," She lifted her nose up at him. He moved closer to her still until he could reach her. He placed his hands on her shoulders.

"Alright, Happy," He seem to accept.

"Thank you," She started to relax, but, before she could recognize what he was doing, he threw her over his shoulder, and entered the line for the ride. "Put me down," she ordered. She kicked her legs as hard as she could into his stomach. "I'm going to kick your ass."

"I kept your feet away from my ass for a reason," He informed her happily. She continued to pound her hands against his back. "You can hurt me all you want, Hap," He chuckled. "You're coming with me."

"I hate you," She declared.

"I bet you do.

* * *

He somehow managed to get her fastened into the ride before she could escape. She had been rolling her eyes at him the whole time and had made a show of throwing insults at him, but he could tell she wasn't mad by the way stopped kicking her limbs at him.

However, when the roller coaster stopped in the middle of a loop, Happy looked over at him indignantly. "I told you so," She smirked.

"Yeah, yeah," He laughed. "But you were having fun, right?"

"I guess," She squinted.

"Then that's what matters," He smiled at her.

"Well, I'm not having fun now," She glared over at him. "And if we are up here much longer, it's going to start to be uncomfortable."

"But for now we're fine," He grinned.

"But the blood is rushing to our heads," She frowned. "Hey, aren't you supposed to the doctor here?"

"I'm not a doctor yet," He smirked. "I can still have fun."

"This isn't fun, Doc," She rolled her eyes. She was starting to feel the effects of being upside down. "The only fun thing about this is that I was write and you were wrong."

"It's fun if we make it fun," He remained hopeful. "Come on, Happy. Just be _happy_."

"Ha, Ha, Ha," She fake laughed unenthusiastically. "I think you've got to retire that joke, Doc. You've only used it...hmmmmmmmmm," She drew out as if she were actually thinking, "Five Hundred and twenty three times in the month we've known each other. I've been counting."

"You're such a fun killer," He complained. "And if I don't have puns, what is the point of living?"

"Remind me why I date you again?" She teased.

"Because I'm incredibly loyal and persistent and completely in love with you," He informed her.

"You're what?" She found a way to shrink back in her seat. His words were clearly making her uncomfortable.

"I-" He was cut off by the ride attendants announcing the ride would be going back in motion in seconds. Happy focused her attention on them, and then on the ride. Her body language showed she was doing anything to avoid talking about what was just said. Toby didn't like the silence. To say it in the cheesiest way possible, he found it deafening.

* * *

"Happy," He tried to grab her attention as soon as they got of the ride. They were supposed to meet Walter in this location in exactly four minutes. Sylvester and Paige were meeting them in one hour and four minutes across the park.

"Happy, you're going to have to talk to me at some point," He pointed out. She looked up from her phone.

"I wasn't ignoring you," She claimed. "I was texting Paige to make sure Sly was ok."

"Of course," He stated as if he knew better. She hadn't technically been lying, but they both knew that she had the coveted ability to multitask.

"Don't talk down to me," She replied quickly.

"About what I said bef-" He started to explain.

"I get it doc. It was said in the heat of the moment," She dismissed him. "We can both forget about it and move forward."

"I have two notes that I'd appreciate you not interrupting me for," He placed his hands gently on her waist.

"Ok," She granted.

"So, one, you can't forget," He chuckled. "You have an eidetic memory." She laughed along with him. It was weird, but she kind of enjoyed having someone around to poke holes in her faulty logic. "Two, I-"

"Tobias M. Curtis," A voice interrupted him once again. "It's been years. I could tell you the number, but then you'd make a joke about how much I care."

"God fucking damnit," He whispered in Happy's direction before letting go of her, and turning around to greet his friend. "Oh, Walter O'Brien, how well you know me. You know what this shows me?" Walter and Toby grinned at each other. "That you care oh so much about me. One might even say that you consider me a friend."

"You haven't changed a bit," Walter observed. "Same stupid hat and same stupid sense of humor. You really seem to be trying to convince people you aren't a genius."

"Well," Happy intervened. "He certainly has me fooled." She offered her hand out, "Happy Quinn." He shook the hand and smiled at her. "I'm his," She paused to sigh a little bit for effect, "girlfriend."

"Funny," Walter noted. "I predicted the probability of Toby ever finding a normal girlfriend when we were children. The probability for me was 0.2% because of my obvious lack of people skills. Toby had even less of a chance. This is mostly because of his antagonistic personality."

"That probability is not in fact incorrect," Happy informed Walter. She could tell hanging around him would be fun for her. Robots were always her favorite.

"It isn't?" Walter questioned.

"That is because Happy here is a genius," Toby planted a sloppy kiss on her cheek and she winced.

"It is statistically improbable that this many geniuses would meet by chance," Walter stated.

"Well, get ready to be wowed, 197," Toby grabbed Walter by the arms. Walter began to protest when Toby cut him off, "Happy's adoptive brother of two weeks is also a genius."

"Notice that I said statistically improbable and not impossible," Walter smiled.

"Superiority complex," Toby diagnosed. "Come on! Come on!" He pushed Happy and Walter forward, "We gotta go on more rides before we meet back up with the others."

"Again, Doc," Happy groaned. "Have you learned nothing?"

"Absolutely not," He nodded his head enthusiastically. He leaned down to whisper in her ear, "We're still talking later. I have some stuff I need to say." Happy groaned again.

* * *

"I'm pleased that's over," Walter admitted to the Happy and Toby. He was gripping the fence for support. Happy laughed the slightest bit from where she also was gripping the fence. Toby was in a fit of giggles from the whole thing.

"I can't believe you two robots are so affected," He chortled.

"Contrary to popular belief we are not made of circuitry," Happy threw a nearby twig at Toby weakly.

"Come on, wimps, we've gotta meet up with Sly and Paige."

"Alright, I'm ok," Walter stood up confidently. He swayed for a second before finding his balance. Happy attempted to do the same but promptly fell into Toby. He caught her. She didn't weigh very much.

"I'm not," She groaned.

"Not to worry," Toby smiled down at her. Even Walter could see how much he truly adored her. "I have a plan." He promptly rested her back against the fence and turned around. "Walter, put her on my back."

"No," She tried to put all of her force behind her word.

"Toby, if she doesn't want-" Walter started.

"Walter, who are you loyal to here?" Toby questioned. "Does our long standing friendship mean nothing to you."

"Don't even think about it," Happy warned.

"But she's so scary," Walter noted.

"You can do it," Toby assured him. "She can't hurt when she can't walk on her own." Walter picked up Happy by the waist and set her on Toby's back. She screamed and tried to fight, but that didn't work out well. Before she knew it, she was settled on his back, and he had his hands on her thighs. It nearly distracted her. Nearly.

"I'm going to fucking kill you, Curtis," She threatened menacingly into his ear.

"I'm well aware, sweetheart," He chuckled.

"And now it's going to be painful," She decided. "Never call me sweetheart again."

They walked for ten minutes before they found the rest of the group. "Paige! Sylvester!" Toby called loudly. "Happy wave your hands."

"I'm not doing that," Happy shook her head.

"Please," He begged. "For me?" She could swear she could feel him batting his eyelashes. She waved her arms. Sylvester saw them, and directed Paige towards them. They were both carrying giant stuffed animals.

Paige stopped dead in her tracks when she laid eyes on Walter. From Sylvester's cry of "Language!", one could only assume that she had cursed under her breath. Walter seemed equally frozen when he saw Toby's cousin.

"Hold up!" Toby ordered to no one in particular. They were standing five feet away from each other. "What's up with you two? Have you guys met?"

"Y-yes," Paige started to recover. "Which is why I'm just so surprised to see Walter again here. What has it been two months?"

"I would say about that long. Yes," Walter stuttered.

"Walter and I need to go… catch up for a minute," Paige announced. Before anyone could protest, she had grabbed Walter's hand and stormed towards the food court tables.

"And Happy and I have to go have a conversation," Toby dragged Happy in the opposite direction.

Standing alone, Sly sighed, "Which leaves exactly one…two… oh yeah no one looking after me."

* * *

"Ow," Walter cried. "You don't have to hurt me. Jesus Christ, how was I supposed to know that you were Paige?"

"And how was I supposed to know that you were Walter?" She questioned. She waved her hands around, "But you're here, and I'm here and I have something to say."

"Ok," He accepted quietly. He crossed his arms over his chest the way he always did when he was ready to think.

"I'm sure you remember how we got really drunk that night and...had sex," She stated bluntly.

"I don't drink much, but yes I remember certain parts of that night," He recalled. "Look, it's not such a big deal. We can just forget about it."

"Yeah, yeah, sure," She agreed. "Except I'm pregnant."

"Oh."

* * *

"Look, Happy, about before," He started again. "I'm sure you remember that I told you I had two points. And my first was a gap in your logic."

"Yes, Doc, I recall," She began to dismiss him again. "And honestly we can just go on like it didn't happen. You don't need to worry."

"I meant it," He told her.

"Doc," She tried to get him to take it back.

"No, Happy, I meant it," He repeated. "I chose to live honestly in that moment, and if you don't feel the same way yet, I'm ok with that."

"You're confident," She observed.

"In this I am," He smiled at her. "We should probably get back to Sly. If we lost him, Eileen would kill you. And I'm not so sure I want you to die." Happy looked back at where they had left Sly and saw that Paige and Walter had found their way back to him.

"I don't know. I think he's pretty safe there for a couple minutes," She grabbed his hand and dragged him behind the nearest building. Let's just say when they returned, Happy's hair was notably messier.


	6. Chapter 6

Hey guys! How's it going for you guys? I really liked writing this chapter. Thank you for all the support for this that I've been getting. I'm trying to balance Waige in here, but I am painfully aware how bad I am at writing Waige. So let me know anything I can do to improve. Send me your ideas and let me know what you think.

-Aislin

Happy hesitated before tapping on the outside of his window. It was 3 am, and she hadn't been able to sleep. Her brain wouldn't shut up. She had decided that going for a walk was the appropriate thing to do, so she had snuck out of her. She wrote Eileen a note in case she was still out in the morning, and before she knew it she was here.

She could see that he was asleep inside his bedroom, and she didn't know if she wanted to wake him. She had the thought that he would probably want her to tap on his window. He might even find it romantic-which she was not. She tapped cautiously on the window.

He didn't move at first, but she continued to tap, firm in her decision to get him up. Eventually, he opened his eyes and yawned. He looked around the room confusedly. She could see him yelp when he saw her by the window. What a dork, She thought as she rolled her eyes and grinned. He quickly began to smile at her, and open his window.

"You know you could have just broken in," He greeted sleepily. "I mean I broke into your house just two and a half weeks ago, and I know you know how to get through a lock."

"But that would be illegal," She pointed out as she crawled. "Besides I didn't bring any tools with me. I didn't exactly plan on coming here."

"Couldn't sleep?" He questioned. He sat down on his bed and opened his arms as if to invite her. She accepted it quickly and quietly. She crawled into his lap and tucked her head underneath his chin. He wrapped his arms around her tight. "You ok, Hap?"

"Mm," She hummed. She nodded her head gently. He planted a kiss on her head.

"So if you didn't plan on coming here, how'd you end up here?" He asked quietly.

"I went for a walk," She whispered, "And I somehow managed to find my way up to your roof and to your window."

"You can sleep here if you want," He offered. He could feel her questioning stare. "Not to do anything. Just to sleep."

"Won't your parents be weirded out if they find me in your room in the morning?" She questioned.

"They don't come in here," He informed her. He started to play with her messy curls distractedly.

"Alright."

"Alright as in yes you'll stay, or alright as in-"

"Shut up, Curtis. I'm trying to sleep." He moved them back so they could both lie down on the bed. She cuddled as deeply into him as she could. He wouldn't have taken her to be a cuddler, but then again she was always surprising him. He could never quite predict her moves. The last thing Toby could remember was the feeling of warmth radiating off of her and onto him. He would give anything to keep that sensation for the rest of his life.

* * *

Walter wasn't the abandon ship kind of guy. In fact, he was often exactly the opposite. He clung on to everything he had ever had. Take his sister, Megan, for example.

While she had been alive, he had followed her around like a puppy. A lot of people put it down to a little boy loving his big sister, but in reality Megan was a god to Walter. She was his protector, his savior, and most of all his most valued life-coach. Even after she had died, Walter clung to her memory.

She had told him not to be afraid to love. It's funny that advice would be what got him into this situation in the first place. 'An experiment in being social,' he had told himself, 'for Megan.' If he hadn't tried so hard to be normal, if he hadn't been so desperate to follow Megan's wishes, if he had just been independent for once he wouldn't be in this mess.

He had never thought about being a father. Not once had his IQ of 197 allowed him to daydream of the future. It was a waste of time to daydream. It was inefficient. He didn't think he could be an adequate father either. He could never truly connect to other people. He would never be normal enough. But he couldn't just leave Paige on her own with a child that was partially his fault. He was never one to abandon a cause.

So really, when it came down to it, there was no choice to be made. It was time to settle here. He would get an apartment. Find a job that put his high IQ to good use, and be a part of his child's life.

* * *

"Sylvester," Eileen called up to bring Sylvester down for breakfast for 8 am. She was surprised that Happy hadn't come home yet. According to the note Happy had written, she was going to be back by breakfast. Apparently, she had just needed a walk. Eileen wasn't entirely comfortable with her daughter (the word still filled her with excitement) leaving in the middle of the night to walk around the neighborhood, but she knew that restricting Happy's freedom would be disastrous.

"Coming!" Sylvester shouted as he carefully walked down the stairs. Eileen always had to chuckle a little bit about how careful the boy was. He didn't even put on a shirt until he had examined it for signs of dirt. He was an odd duckling.

"Is Happy upstairs?" She asked with a smile. Sylvester frowned slightly.

"No, should she be?" He questioned.

"Not really," Eileen laughed nervously. "She went out last night for a walk. She's probably on her way back now." As the words left her mouth, the doorbell rang. "That's probably her now. Come on, Sylvester." They rushed to the door together, and when they opened it Sylvester immediately grinned.

"Toby!" He beamed.

"Think I've got something that belongs to you," Toby looked down at Happy who he was carrying. When morning had arrived, she had refused to get up, but Toby knew she had to go home. So he settled on letting her sleep, and just carrying her there.

"I'm a someone not a something," Happy grumbled quietly from his arms.

"Course you are, sweetheart," He said patronizingly.

"How'd she wind up with you, Toby?" Eileen checked curiously.

"She didn't really tell me that when she woke me up at three am to tell me she couldn't sleep," He explained. "I promise nothing unbecoming happened. She just wanted to fall asleep."

"Don't talk about me like I'm not here," Happy complained. Eileen had to laugh at the scene before her. Here she was at her front door, where her 16, nearly 17, year old daughter's boyfriend was explaining how she had ended up staying the night at his house, and she wasn't even freaked out. If she had been anyone else, she would probably be angry, but she wasn't. This was Toby who had grown up in the house next to her-the same Toby that blown up her flower garden when he was six. She trusted him.

"Alright, you go put her in her room then, and I'm making pancakes," Eileen announced. "You might as well stay. No funny business, Toby," She added for good measure. Toby entered the house and quickly and scaled the stairs with Happy still curled up against him.

* * *

Walter approached Paige's hotel cautiously. He knew that she and her father were searching for a house here. She had told him all this. She had also told him she didn't expect him to be in this child's life. He had decided that he was, and he intended on telling her that.

He entered the hotel lobby and was surprised to see Paige sitting in the lounge by herself. She didn't seem to be doing anything. "Hey," He greeted as he sat down next to her.

"Walter," She greeted politely. "What are you doing here?"

"I was just coming down here to tell you that I intend to be in this child's life," He stated abruptly. Paige laughed a little at his lack of understanding about human communication.

"Ok, Walter," She smiled. "That's your choice."

"Paige," A deep voice called to get her attention. Paige turned around and grinned.

"Dad!" She smiled. "You're finally ready to go get lunch with the family?"

"You know me, kid," Her father responded. "Always taking my ti," He stopped talking when he looked at Walter. "Walter O'Brien, is that you?"

"Cabe," Walter stated. Paige noted that he sounded simultaneously shocked and angry.

"You two know each other as well?" Paige questioned. It was starting to seem crazy the number of connections there were within this town.

"We used to," Walter supplied.

"Walter," Cabe warned. "The past is the past. If you're ready to move on, I am too."

"Paige," Walter turned to address her. "I'm going to leave now. This is my number. You can call me." He ran out of the hotel faster than Paige could yell after him.

* * *

"Happy!" Eileen greeted brightly. "You're finally up!"

"Yeah, well I was up late last night," She gave a small smile.

"Here," She offered out a plate of pancakes which Happy readily accepted. "You can eat that outside. The boys are playing some kind of game out there."

"They're geniuses. They don't play," Happy raised her eyebrows.

"Could've fooled me," Eileen smirked. Happy began her exit into the backyard. "You know, Happy, I wanted to talk to you about something."

"Yeah?" Happy immediately tensed up.

"I was just wondering if you were ready for the back to school season," Eileen smiled comfortingly.

"Why wouldn't I be ready? Start of school is the same every year?" Happy wrinkled her nose at her.

"No, I'm not worried about your school experience," Eileen dismissed. "Well, I am. I mean you're not exactly social, and I'm worried you'll stick up for Sylvester or anyone else using force, but I..." Eileen paused to take a breath. "What I was trying to talk to you about was about Toby. He's going back to Harvard and that's far away."

"I'll be fine," Happy waved her free hand, and left the room before Eileen could press the topic. She walked until she was next to Toby. Toby and Sylvester were playing a spirited game of who can come up with the most statistically unlikely scenario. It seemed like Toby was in the lead which clearly annoyed Sly.

"Paige names her child 'Poop'," Happy inputted. Toby turned his head around to face her.

"You're awake," He grinned. "And I think you're winning which is 100% unfair." He pulled her so that she sat down next to him. She grunted a little on impact with the ground. "I'm sorry. Did I hurt you?" She shook her head.

"I'm going inside," Sylvester announced.

"No, you don't have to leave, Sylvester," Happy chuckled.

"I have work to do inside," Sylvester decided. He quickly shuffled back inside where he and Eileen started to bake cookies. Well, Sylvester didn't necessarily bake the cookies per se. But he did help Eileen make all the calculations to make perfect cookies.

"You scared him off," Happy observed. She shot Toby a playful glare.

"Nah, he wasn't scared," Toby argued. "He was waiting for you to wake up, so he could leave me alone and go make cookies."

"You held Sylvester back from cookies?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Not purposely," He laughed. "Eileen insisted that we wait for you out here."

"She insists on a lot of things lately," Happy commented.

"Like what?" Toby pressed. He stole a chocolate chip off her plate.

"Doesn't matter," Happy continued to eat her pancakes without looking at him.

"What's up?" He questioned. "Are you alright? You seem off."

"I'm ok, Doc," She smiled at him to calm his nerves. "I'm just a little tired." She put on her 'I'm Happy Quinn and I am never emotionally affected by anything face'. He dropped the matter and accepted her excuse. As much as she tried to stop, she continued to think about her adoptive mother's words. She couldn't explain the uneasiness she felt about them, but she decided to move on with her day. She pretended as if she hadn't heard anything.


	7. Chapter 7

**Hey guys! Please accept this fluffy chapter as an apology for what I'm going to put you through in the future. I'm not saying this story won't end in a happy ending, but I am saying that maybe you'll be upset at me at some points along the way. Don't worry though. I will have quite a few fluffy fun chapters and nice family moments before then,**

 **-Aislin**

"Curtis, you're going down," Happy taunted from across the table. They were about to start a game of monopoly. The group consisting of Happy, Toby, Paige, Sylvester, and Walter had been spending more and more time together. They mostly met up at the park. Sylvester had become Walter's biggest supporter, and all the geniuses enjoyed spending time with him.

The fact that Walter was Paige's baby's father had come out about two weeks ago. There was an initial shock, but it seemed to have blown over, and the group could rest easy knowing that there were no more secrets being held between them. Or so they thought.

"Happy," Paige addressed the slightly younger girl cautiously. "We haven't even started the game yet. Can you promise me you aren't going to hurt anyone?"

Happy squinted at Paige skeptically. "Someone always gets hurt during monopoly," Happy pointed out.

"Yeah, but normally that's emotional hurt," Paige giggled.

"Most of us don't get emotionally hurt," Walter argued. Paige gave him a look.

"That doesn't mean she should maim my cousin," Paige hit Walter on the arm.

"For someone who doesn't want anyone to get hurt you sure do hit hard," Toby observed.

They had decided to play monopoly inside Happy and Sly's house because there was an incoming thunderstorm. According to Sylvester, a storm that big would make going to the park unsafe, though any storm made a park unsafe, but he still wanted to see everyone. Noone had the heart to let down the kid.

"Toby, it's you I'm trying to protect here," Paige turned on him. Toby raised his arms and shrugged.

"Look, I knew what I was getting into when I started dating this one," He gestured at Happy. "Besides, she likes me enough that she doesn't hit that hard."

"Can we just play the damn game?" Happy questioned.

"Language, Happy," Eileen called from the kitchen.

"Guys, can we play?" Sylvester asked sweetly. "I know monopoly can last for days, and we might as well get started now."

"We might as well," Walter decided.

"I want the steamboat!" Happy called.

"As long as you don't tell me how it works and what a mechanical marvel it is, I do not care," Paige handed her the game piece.

"I want the hat," Toby grinned. "It's just like mine." Happy gave him a strange look for a moment before turning away. The rest of the group picked their pieces and the game began.

* * *

About two hours into the game, two main alliances had started to form. There was the Waige alliance and the Quintis alliance(the alliances were clearly named by Toby). Sylvester was having a good time bouncing between the alliances. The other side's strategies were each apparent to the other team.

The Quintis alliance plan was for Toby to sell all the properties he bought to Happy for cheap, and he had bought a lot of properties in the beginning. As soon as it was Happy's, she would buy the properties at one dollar a piece. Toby was nearing bankruptcy, but that was ok because he had plans to join Happy's team.

The Waige alliance plan was slightly less transparent. They were both building separate empires, but when one of them bought a property that completed the monopoly of the other they would quickly trade it for less money than it was worth. Although they weren't being as obvious as the other team, there was an unspoken understanding that if one of them were to lose they would be welcome on the other person's team.

Sylvester was floating somewhere in the middle of the two alliances. He had bought as much property as he possibly could at the beginning, and he was doing quite well for someone who had no obvious teammate in the game. He wasn't bankrupt yet, but it was abundantly clear that if he were to lose the others would be fighting over him. Who didn't want a human calculator on their team for a game about financing?

"I have about 200 dollars to my name, and I just landed on a railroad that is as of recently," Toby coughed Walter's name in between his statement, "for sale, and I would like to buy the 200 dollar railroad. Banker," He turned to address Eileen who had stepped in mid game to moderate. Toby was apparently infamous for cheating. "Take my money."

Eileen gave him an amused look as she took the cash out of her daughter's boyfriend's hand. It was now Happy's turn. Happy pulled out a one dollar bill and handed it to Toby without a word. Toby passed her the railroad. "Now, I have all four. Thank you, Doc."

"Pleasure doing business with you, Hap," Toby grinned.

"Eileen, are you 100% certain that isn't cheating," Walter checked for the second time in twenty minutes.

"I'm sure, Walter," Eileen sounded slightly frustrated this time. "Toby can trade his property for whatever amount of money he wants. If he wants to give Happy everything he owns, then that's perfectly acceptable."

"Technically," Happy began to correct, "It isn't giving everything if I exchange money for the properties."

"Also, for all you know, I just want to be king of the ones," Toby showcased his one dollar bills to the group. "I mean you may have 1000 dollars, Walter, but I have a ton of singles, and that pleases me."

"You're insane," Walter observed.

"Insanely happy," Toby grinned back.

"I-" Walter started to argue with Toby.

"Ok," Paige interrupted before the tension got too high, "I think it's time for a break. Eileen, would it be ok if Walter and I put together a snack in the kitchen?" Eileen nodded as she shot Paige a grateful look. "Alright, how about we all go our separate ways, and Walter and I will have a snack ready in a minute."

Paige took Walter by the hand and dragged him to the kitchen. Toby noted that Walter didn't reject the touch like he would with anyone else. It was strange. He didn't get much time to think about it before Happy had grabbed his own hand and started to pull him up the stairs into her room.

She pushed him down so he was sitting on her chair. "I'm nearly positive that I've had this dream before," He chuckled. She rolled her eyes, and made a show of sitting across from him. "Well, now you're so far away," He whined. She rolled her eyes again.

"Oh, relax," She breathed. "We need to discuss our strategy and we can't do that if you get distracted."

"Because I'm the only one that gets distracted," He scoffed. "Our strategy is perfect Happy. There is nothing to be discuss."

"I just want to talk about the logistics of you joining my team when you inevitably are out after your next turn," She explain.

"Proceed."

"I still get to be in charge, right?" She clarified. He laughed for a minute before responding to her.

"Happy, you're always in charge," He giggled. "And I'm 100% ok with it because I know you won't rest until we win, and hopefully you'll let me make a few decisions with your help and maybe even let me roll the dice."

"Well, I suppose that's how a team is supposed to operate."

* * *

"Walter, I know Toby is annoying you, but you're going to at least have to pretend to be fine with it," Paige addressed Walter as soon as they entered into the kitchen.

"Why?" He asked bluntly. She giggled under her breath as she pulled out some food from the cupboards.

"Because everyone is going to kill you," She explained. "What Toby and Happy are doing is technically not against the rules, and while immoral we just need to hold up against them."

"But they're being mischievous and conniving. Is that really in the spirit of the game?" Walter questioned.

"This is a game about becoming a business tyrant," Paige laughed. "Of course it's in the spirit of the game."

* * *

"It would seem that I am out of cash," Toby observed. "It looks like I'm out. All my properties go back up for sale. That's all one...two...oh yes none of them that I own."

"Toby," Happy widened her eyes and smiled fakely. "It seems awfully unfair for you not to be able to do anything in the game anymore."

"I know, Hap, but that's just the way it works," Toby couldn't contain his smile.

"Well, maybe you'd like to join my team as vice-president of the company," Happy offered as if they hadn't already agreed to this.

"Well, then we'll have to change the name from the Happy company," Toby grinned. "Should it be Quintis or Tappy?"

"Your choice," Happy shrugged.

"Quintis Company it is," Toby agreed.

"You two are so see-through," Walter stated. "Happy, would you just take your turn?" Toby put a possessive arm around Happy.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Toby argued. "It's not 'Happy, take your turn'. It's 'Quintis take your turn.' Get it right!"

"Now you're just being antagonistic," Walter commented. Paige nudged him with her elbow.

"I'll have you-" Toby started to annoy Walter. Happy interrupted him by smacking him in the chest. He yelped, but didn't take his arm off her shoulder.

* * *

The thunder was loud and disturbing. It had forced Sylvester to leave the game in favor of latching onto his adoptive mother and shaking at every crash of thunder. Eileen and Sylvester were in charge of mediating between the two teams. Paige had gotten out of the game about an hour before, and had joined Walter's Team shortly after. Her monopolies had been given back to the bank, and, much to Team Waige's dismay, Team Quintis had wasted in no time in buying most of those properties.

Things were starting to heat up. Paige had been trying to keep a level head throughout the game. Happy and Toby were purposefully egging them on. Happy was being extremely blunt and mean to any other player in the game, and Toby was just plain annoying. They truly were a match made in heaven. Walter looked like he was going to pass out from the stress of not reacting to them. Then something happened that pushed way past her breaking point.

"No freaking way!" She screeched after moving their piece. "No! No! No! You cannot! Boardwalk again! No!"

"You owe us," Happy looked down at the card as if she didn't already know how much Paige and Walter owed her and Toby, "$600."

"I am not paying the damn fee again," Paige screamed. Walter placed a hand on her back and shot her a look.

"One more payment will not bankrupt us," Walter stated reasonably. "It's ok, we will be ok. As long as it doesn't happen again. We can still win this, Paige."

Happy snickered something into Toby's ear. The others didn't think they wanted to know what was said. Toby chuckled. "You two just rolled doubles," Happy addressed the group. "You have to roll again. I know you're passing go, but you will only have 350 dollars," She taunted. Toby moved so that he could wrap his arms around her stomach and place his head on top of her shoulder. There was a loud crash of thunder. He tightened his arms around her.

Paige let out an exasperated sigh before rolling the dice again. They displayed a one and a three. Walter moved to Baltic Avenue. Another one of Toby and Happy's monopolies. This was when Paige actually got pissed.

"There is no way in frickin hell that I am mortgaging the properties to you two," She declared angrily.

"Why not? Clearly we're the better team," Toby taunted obnoxiously. He whispered into Happy's ear,"I can't believe we are about to beat 197. I'm never going to let him hear the end of it."

"I think that's what he and Paige are so annoyed about," Happy responded quietly.

Paige was strongly considering throwing the board across the room, possibly hitting Toby in the face with it. Happy must have been rubbing off on her. Another flash of lightning appeared through the window. Sylvester visibly flinched. "Alright, alright, game over. Happy and Toby win. That's it. It's all over," Eileen cried over the thunder.

"But we haven't gott-" Happy started to whine.

"Nope, no complaints. You're all done," She dismissed. She started to take all the hotels and houses of the board. Sylvester started to pick up the money.

Toby resisted momentarily, "Hey! Hey! I just want the record to show that we have $2314 and they have -$150. We technically one!" Sylvester snatched the money out of his hands. Toby looked as if he was about to say something else, but was interrupted by another crash of thunder.

"Kids, I don't know if it's safe for you to go home," Eileen addressed the group. "You can stay here and sleepover. I'm not sure I've ever seen a storm this big in Washington. You have to stay here until the storms over."

Toby looked down at his girlfriend and muttered, "I think I'm alright with that."


	8. Chapter 8

**Hey guys! So I saw Dartmouth which was incredible. I missed a day of school, but it was definitely worth it. I met all these super amazing engineering people which is what I'm into, which I know is surprising because you would think I'd like English. No, believe it or not, I am a math and computer science nerd(the horror, am i right?) And also I would like to say that last night's episode was hella cute. The teamwork of Toby and Sylvester was the best thing I have ever seen. I love when they work together. It just makes me so happy. Also, poor Walter. Anyway let me know what you think and send me your ideas,**

 **-Aislin**

"Kindly fuck off," Happy screamed at Toby from her window. She threw a screwdriver out the window at him.

"Happy, calm down!" He pleaded.

"No!" She yelled angrily.

"What's wrong with our favorite crazy couple?" Paige asked Eileen as she and Walter entered the house to pick Sylvester, Happy, and Toby up for a day out. There was only about a week now before Toby had to go back to school, and two weeks before Happy and Sylvester did the same. Happy wasn't exactly looking forward to her senior year. Eileen chuckled for a moment before responding.

"They were playing spit," She paused when Walter gave her a look of confusion. "A kids card game," She explained. "And Toby won, so Happy started throwing thing."

"So it's a just a normal day, really?" Paige laughed. Walter gave a small smile.

"Pretty much," Eileen grinned. "Sylvester is probably ready in his room, but Happy...she might take a couple of minutes."

Toby entered through the front door, "Mrs...Eileen could I get an icepack?"

"What did she get you with this time?" Eileen questioned. "Is she calmed down?"

"Well, she stopped throwing things, told me to go inside, and closed the window, so I would hope so," Toby answered the second question first. "She got me with a pencil case, a couple of screws, and a well placed monopoly piece. To be honest, I was just glad she was merciful enough not to actually hit me with her hammer." He opened the freezer and pulled an ice pack out that he gently placed on his left shoulder using his right arm.

"Does it concern you that your girlfriend spends the majority of her time throwing things at you?" Walter inquired curiously.

"Nah," Toby dismissed. "That's just how Happy shows her affection." Happy entered the room as he said this. "Isn't that right, bunny?"

"Would you stop calling me that?" She raised an eyebrow at him. The only sign she gave that she didn't actually dislike him was peck she planted on his cheek. He grinned as if this was the most affectionate thing anyone had ever done in the entire universe.

"You know you love it," He teased good-naturedly.

"Do I need to get out my hammer again, Doc?" She said seriously, but her eyes gave away that she was playing with him.

"Alright, I hate to disrupt this _heartwarming_ display of affection," Paige interrupted, "But we have to be at the mystery escape game by 10:30 am. It's already 8:30 and it's an hour away and you aren't ready yet Happy. Even I can do that math."

"Paige, no," Happy tried to stop Paige from dragging her up to her room and dress her and have fun with her makeup, but damn these tall people she befriended and the leverage that comes with them.

"Paige, yes," Paige grinned. She pushed Happy into her room and closed the door. She then turned to the closet. She searched through until she found something that she knew Happy couldn't have picked up on her own. She prayed a silent thank you to God for giving her the gift that was Eileen and turned around to show Happy the outfit of choice.

"I'm not wearing that," Happy snorted. Paige managed to force Happy into the black dress. No, it isn't the most girly thing in the world, but it was more than Happy wants to wear on a casual day out.

"Happy, you look awesome," Paige complimented the younger girl. "Come on, let me to your makeup."

"Paige, no," Happy started again. This worked about as well as it did the first time.

* * *

"Don't say anything," Happy addressed the room, mostly Toby actually, as she walked down the stairs. She could see Toby's jaw drop as soon as he laid eyes on her. There might have even be the tiniest bit of drool on his face.

"Come on, guys," Paige chased down the stairs after her. "We gotta go." The geniuses started to head to the car except for Toby who was stuck in place. Happy grabbed his hand and started to drag him with her.

"Idiot."

* * *

"I don't want to sit in the middle," Happy complained. She was refusing to get into the car. Sylvester sighed loudly from where he sat on the other side of the car.

"It is only logical for you to sit in the middle Happy," Walter repeated for the fifth time.

"Why can't Toby sit in the middle?" She whined.

"Toby is 6 feet tall and cannot fit," Toby stated simply. He attempted to push her into the car. She punched him in the stomach.

"Don't talk about yourself in the third person," Happy chastised. "What about Sylvester?"

"Even he is bigger than you Happy," Paige chuckled. "Get in the car." Happy grudgingly nodded and sat down in the middle. Toby followed her in. He quickly pressed a kiss into her hair and wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

"You know," Happy twirled a piece of her hair in her hand. "I have a way that we can have me not sit in the middle."

"And what's that, my love," Toby grinned thinking he knew where this was going. Happy grimaced at the nickname.

"Toby could sit in the trunk," She smirked.

"Toby could not," Toby's smile dropped.

"Toby could too," She argued. "And what did I say about the third person?"

"Not to."

* * *

"I should have known this would be no fun with you guys," Paige sighed disappointedly after they exited the Mystery Escape room. Normally this was a fun game that friends could partake in together, but the geniuses had torn it apart in 3 minutes. The record had been 25 minutes.

"What do you mean no fun?" Walter asked. "We solved the puzzles and won. What part of that isn't fun?"

"It's supposed to be a challenge," Paige muttered.

"I have an idea to make it more challenging," Sylvester grinned mischievously.

"Yeah, Sly?" Toby prompted.

"So it can be a competition of team work," Sylvester explained. "So you guys go in in pairs. Walter and Paige against Happy and Toby."

"Waige vs. Quintis," Toby put a hand on his scruffy beard as though thinking. "I like it."

"But one of you has to be blindfolded," Sylvester added. "So Walter has to be blindfolded on and Happy has to be blindfolded."

"Ok I think I get why Paige isn't blindfolded, but why am I blindfolded?" Happy questioned.

"Well, we can do two runs," Sylvester shrugged his shoulders. "Paige, let's go talk to the guy in charge and get two rooms, and do the competition."

Toby pulled Happy aside momentarily, "We're going to win this right?"

"Of course we are," Happy laughed. "We're obviously going to win."

* * *

"Toby, I can feel you staring at me in this dress," She snapped from where she sat blindfolded on a chair Toby had led her too. The game technically wouldn't start for another couple of minutes while the guy running it got situated.

"You should take it as a compliment," She assumed he was shrugging as he spoke.

"You sure I should find it creepy?" She retorted.

"I think that, as soon as I became your boyfriend, I obtained the right to stare at you all I like." His voice echoed loudly around the small room. "Besides, I just think you're beautiful." She hoped she was doing a good job of hiding the blush on her face.

"Well, you're going to have to focus if we are going to win this," She warned.

"Anything for you, my turtledove.

* * *

"Paige, I'm going to need you to be my eyes," Walter stated slowly. He couldn't see anything through the blindfold. Paige had carefully guided him to a seat was against the wall opposite where they had entered. At least, that's what he assumed had happened.

"I can do this, Walter," She promised.

"I trust you," Walter smiled. Paige smiled back at him even though he couldn't see her. Even though she was having his child, they weren't a couple. Paige wasn't sure if she wanted them to be. They were so different. It would be strange. She had never dated anyone like Walter.

"Good."

"Besides, we can't let Happy and Toby beat us in anything again," Walter began to grin cockily.

"Of course not."

* * *

"So, you're friends with these people," The room attendant, Jake, asked Sylvester curiously. They were five minutes into the game. Each team was struggling in their own way.

"Yeah," Sylvester answered. Happy and Toby had resorted to a rather strange tactic. Toby described everything he was seeing and the puzzles he was solving while carrying her on his back. She occasionally pulled on his ears or his hair if he was doing something annoying or unsatisfactory He was explaining everything he could see to her, and, though he figured out more than his fair share of puzzles, Happy actually managed to help alot. There was alot of yelling, but it was working. Sylvester was recording the entire thing.

Walter and Paige had opted for a different system. Though Paige explained what was happening as they went along, she only asked him specific questions she needed answers. Otherwise, she was pretty much alone solving the puzzles. She was surprisingly swift, and was quickly proving herself smarter than she appeared.

"And they're geniuses?" Jake clarified.

"We all are except for Paige," Sylvester answered shortly. He would have made an attempt to seem more friendly toward the attendant, but at that moment he was focused solely on his friends and his predictions of the outcome of this competition.

"They're incredible," He observed in awe. "Even when blindfolded both teams are going through this like it's nothing."

At this he chuckled for a minute, "They can do anything they are determined to do. They are all hyper-competitive. They are very determined in this moment."

* * *

"I request a rematch," Walter insisted to Sylvester. Sylvester smiled and shook his head at the older man.

"No rematches," Sylvester chuckled.

"I will not accept a tie," Walter declared.

"Well, it's a not a tie because we won monopoly," Happy teased. Toby squeezed her legs a little bit tighter in support of her statement. The competition had been over for five minutes, but Toby was still giving her a piggyback ride. She didn't seem opposed to it.

"Sylvester, I demand a rematch," Paige insisted. "If we don't, they will never let this go."

"No rematches allowed. There can be future competitions."

"Future competitions that we will also win," Toby smirked confidently. Ok, so maybe he wasn't entirely sure they would win, but, honestly, he knew this victory stuff was the kind of thing Happy liked, and he couldn't say he disliked it, so he goaded Walter.

"Not if I have anything to say about it," Paige snapped.


	9. Chapter 9

**Hey guys! Is it bad that I actually nearly cried several times writing this. I think it's because I'm one of those people who cries whenever I see another human being be sad. Like there are three episodes of modern family that I cannot watch because my family makes fun of me for being emotionally affected by it. And don't even get me started on how I react to seeing any quintis moment. Anyway, let me know what you think and send me your ideas.**

 **-Aislin**

"Are you going to miss me when I'm gone?" He whispered into her hair the night before he would leave to go back to Massachusetts. She shuddered against his words, but quickly controlled her reaction.

"Nah," She waved off his point with a soft slap to his arm.

"You know it's perfectly fine to admit you're going to be affected by me not being here for the next couple of months," He assured her. "It might even make me feel better."

"I'm going to be fine," She dismissed. He pressed a kiss to her hair. She had come to his house in the dead of night once again, and he was pretty convinced that this was about his departure.

"Well, I'm definitely going to miss you," He wrapped his arms around her tighter, and she closed her eyes against his chest.

"Why? You already made me agree to facetime with you for at least twenty minutes everyday," She smirked.

"But I won't be able to hug you," He gripped her the slightest bit harder, "Or kiss you," He kissed her head gently, "Or anything. I'm going to miss you."

"Why?" She questioned.

"Because I love you," He informed her. It didn't bother him that she never said it back. He didn't need her to because, right now, this was enough for him. He wasn't going to push for anything she wasn't ready for.

"And you're sure you're not going to love any of those Harvard girls?" She teased. "I mean I hear they're pretty smart."

"No one is as smart as you are, my turtledove," He grinned.

"Walter is smarter than me," She pointed out.

"Are you saying I should date Walter?" He asked.

"No, I think my point was-"

"Because that's definitely gross," He interrupted.

"What I was trying to say was that-"

"It doesn't matter," He cut her off again. "No one can compete with you, sunshine."

"How do you know that?"

"I just do." After that comment, Happy fell silent, but for once in her life the silence wasn't as comforting as it should be. It was like there were all these extra things that needed to be said, but no way to say them.  
"How are you so able to say things like that?" She inquired curiously.

"What do you mean?"

"You don't find it hard to say things like that," She observed. "You find it easy. Why is it so easy for you?"

"Because I'm a talker," He shrugged his shoulders. "I know how to say what I mean."

"What does that make me?" She moved enough that she could make eye contact with him. He kissed her forehead once again.

"You, my love, are a doer," He explained. "You will never have to say anything for me to know that you care. You tell me things with the things you do."

"Like what?"

"Well, I know you love my hair because you get rid of my hat at every opportunity you get," He told her.

"I hate that hat," She muttered.

"But you love my hair," He countered. "And you told me that you care that I stay safe and uninjured when you jumped the fence because you thought I might be hurt and again when you had me quit gambling. That showed me."

"But I didn't say anything," Happy argued.

"You didn't have to," Toby smiled. "You don't have to say anything for me to understand you."

"Because you're trained to do it," She sighed.

"No because I love you," He stated once again.

"When will you come back home?"

"I'll be back for a week in Thanksgiving, and by Christmas I'll be here permanently, and then we have until you go off to college in the fall."

"Okay."

* * *

Three O'clock, Toby's time of departure, crept up on Happy too quickly. She wouldn't admit it, but she desperately wanted him to stay. She knew that was illogical. Toby needed to get his MD. Something he had worked for for a long time. She wasn't going to take that away from him. Besides, it wasn't like they were breaking up.

"I'm going to miss you, Toby," Sylvester whined. Sylvester was gripping the older boy so hard that Toby coughed. Toby hugged him back none the less.

"Don't worry, Sly," He grinned at Sylvester. "I'm like herpes. I'll always come back." Sylvester wrinkled his nose.

"Ew." Sylvester let go of Toby and let someone else take their turn at goodbye. Eileen stepped up and handed Toby three boxes of cookies and some sodas.

"For the road," She explained. "You'll be back for Thanksgiving?"

"I wouldn't be anywhere else, Eileen," He promised.

Paige embraced Toby next. She wasn't pregnant enough to start showing yet, but that was coming soon. "I'm going to miss you, little cousin."

"Hey!" Toby complained. "I am taller than you which makes you the little cousin."

"Call as often as you can," Paige ordered. Toby moved onto Cabe next who patted him on the shoulder and gave him a nod as a goodbye. It was good enough to Toby.

"I suppose the lack of your annoying antics will probably make it alot quieter around here," Walter addressed Toby.

"Wow, Walter, I'm touched," Toby chuckled. "I think I might cry."

"Seriously though, take care of yourself," Walter gave Toby a small smile. Toby nodded at the hand Walter had placed on Paige's back.

"Take care of her," He countered.

Finally, it was Happy's turn to say goodbye. She didn't know what to say. Was there anything to say at all. "You'll call me when you get to the first hotel?" She started. He pulled her into his arms and held her as tight as he possible could.

"Of course I will," He assured her.

"And every day? Even though we'll be in different time zones?"

"For as long as humanly possible."

"Good." He held onto her for a minute or so after that. When he finally let go, he kissed her quickly before getting into the dusty, packed-up car he was using to travel the 43 hours by car to get to the east coasts.

She lowered herself so they could talk briefly through the window, "I..."

"I know," She could see the tears starting to form in his eyes, and she wondered if hers were doing the same. "I love you, Happy. Don't forget that."

"I won't," She swore. "Now, get out of here before you start crying."

"I think I'm going to cry anyway."

"You wimp," Her voiced cracked a little as she said it, and the tears started to fall. He drove off soon after that, and when he looked in the rearview mirror they were all waving. Even Happy, who was wrapped in Paige's grip. He turned away and focused on the road. It was hard to focus, but he of all people knew that crying and driving was painful business.

* * *

Eileen entered Happy's room a few hours later to check on her. She hadn't seen Happy since she had sprinted inside hiding away from everyone who loved her. Eileen had the sense that she didn't want them to see her cry.

She found her daughter lying down on her bed gripping a stuffed animal teddy-bear that Toby had won for her at that amusement park. "Oh, honey," Eileen exclaimed. She sat down next to Happy and pulled her into a hug.

"I'm ok. I promise," Happy croaked.

"It's ok to admit that you miss him," Eileen smiled comfortingly.

"But that's stupid," Happy argued. "He's only been gone for a couple hours. He's been gone for this long before. There is no reason to miss him."

"Sweetheart," Happy winced at the pet-name. "Love isn't reasonable. You're allowed to miss, Toby." Happy closed her eyes and let out a couple of uneven breaths.

"But I don't want to," She cried.

"You don't want to what?" Eileen questioned curiously.

"I don't want miss him," Happy stated. "Love can only ever break and burn. Everything ends. I don't want to miss him. I don't want to get hurt."

"Oh, Happy," Eileen whispered. Her eyes were too filling with tears.

"No," Sylvester interrupted.

"Sylvester," Eileen tried to get him out of the room.

"No, Happy, love is important," Sylvester explained.

"It's-" Happy began to argue.

"Yes, you can get hurt," Sylvester agreed. "But you can get hurt doing anything. Did you know that vending machines kill 13 people a year? But you still get snacks from them. Love is more worthwhile than a snack."

"Sylvester, you're afraid of everything," Happy pointed out.

"Yeah, I was, but I'm starting to learn that sometimes doing things you're afraid of helps you, and not everything that can hurt you is bad."

* * *

Toby had driven 400 miles before he finally stopped at his hotel for the night. He quickly through his bags into his room and walked to the crappy diner next door. He was walking around on autopilot. He didn't want to think. He couldn't. If he did, he would fall apart. He would end up driving the 400 miles back without thinking about it, but he needed to go back to Med school.

He was the only customer in the restaurant. The waitress tried to chat with him and make small talk, Toby's favorite kind of talk, but he wasn't very responsive.

"I'll just take a chocolate milkshake and a burger please," He cut the nice lady off.

"Alright," She noted as she turned around to put the order in. Toby pulled out his phone, and stared at it for a full 5 minutes before finally giving and calling her. She picked up on the first ring.

"Toby." He nearly started crying at the way Happy's voice wavered. She was creaky almost as if she had been crying for the past few hours.

"Were you waiting for my call, sweetheart?" He grinned even though he could break at any minute.

"Yes," She admitted and he was taken aback.

"Is something wrong, Happy?" His voice cracked embarrassingly.

"I miss you." He could hear that she was crying, and he nearly grabbed his keys right then and then, but he didn't. He stayed where he was sitting and kept the cellphone pressed tightly against his ear.

"I miss you too," He replied after about fifteen seconds of silence, and now he was pretty sure that he was crying too. The waitress was giving him that kind of look that you give a puppy that has been abandoned in the street. "We'll see each other again soon, Hap. It's going to be ok."

"How do you know?" She questioned, and even through the phone he knew that her hands were shaking and she was gripping that teddy bear he got her only a few weeks ago.

"Because I love you, and I'm never going to stop loving you, and I know that we can get through this," He promised. "People farther away than us have made it work."

"Do you know what the statistic on long distance relationships working out it?" She asked. "70% of long distance relationships fail, Doc."

"Please, when have either of us ever gotten a 70% on anything?" He snorted.

"I once failed an english paper." He smiled at the burger that had been placed in front of him, but he was really thinking about Happy.

"Oh, really?" He pressed.

"Yeah," She continued. "I was in sixth grade, and we were supposed to write an essay about our families, but I didn't have one, so I turned in a paper stating exactly that, and the teacher didn't like it, so I failed."

"You wouldn't fail anymore," He stated. He left some money on the table and began to walk back to his hotel room.

"Well, my life is alot better now." He hoped she was smiling right now, that maybe she had stopped crying somewhere during their conversation.

"Yeah, Eileen and James and Sly are a good family to you."

"They are, but I wasn't really talking about them."

* * *

They talked about nothing in particular until it was too late for him to reasonably be awake. She was the one who insisted he go bed. He had a long day of driving tomorrow, and she didn't want him to crash.

"Goodnight, Toby," Her voice wavered a little bit.

"Don't miss me too much, sweetheart," He bit back the tears that were coming to his eyes once again.

"Oh, I won't," She teased.

"I'll talk to you soon," He promised. "Night, Hap, I love you." He hung up the phone before he could change his mind and desperately tried to fall asleep. He felt empty and cold and useless, and even though school hadn't even started yet, he already wanted it to be over.


	10. Chapter 10

**Hey guys! What's up? My life is totally fine...100%...totally fine. We played volleyball in gym, and I forgot I wasn't wearing kneepads and dove. So that basically took out my right knee. Then I fell over at volleyball and screwed up my elbow, and possibly infected the cut on my knee. Then my friend convinced me to do community service on Saturday. I didn't need it for my requirement because I already had like 24/10 hours, but I figured 'Hey, why not join her?' It was a bad move. We went to do trail maintenance, and I face planted. Which took out my other knee and completely destroyed my entire right arm. And also my toe seriously seriously hurts. But yeah, I feel like my broken and mangled body definitely resembles my quintis shipper heart. So, let me know what you think, and please send me your ideas,**

 **-Aislin**

"Are you looking for Paige? Because she isn't here," Walter said as he answered the door. Cabe stared at him from the doorway and shook his head.

"No, kid, I'm here for you," Cabe smiled anxiously. He gestured to the inside of Walter's new apartment.

"I'm not sure I want you to come in," Walter answered the unspoken question.

"I have some things to say," Cabe reasoned.

"They can be said out here," Walter crossed his arms over his chest.

"Well, then you'll be guarding the door for a while," Cabe chuckled. "I have a lot of things to say to you."

"What if I don't want to hear them?" Walter questioned.

"You'd hear them anyway," Cabe argued. "I'm not leaving here until you hear me out."

"I could just shut the door on you," Walter countered. Cabe gave Walter a long, meaningful look.

"Please, kid," Cabe asked again.

"Ok, come in," Walter gave in. He opened the door wide enough that Cabe could enter, and moved aside. Cabe strode into the Walter's medium-sized apartment confidently. "You can sit there." Walter gestured at a chair, and sat down in the one opposite it. "You can say what you came here to say."

"I wanted to tell you that I'm sorry for what I put you through when you were a kid," Cabe started. "I shouldn't have gotten you involved with that, and I shouldn't have lied about it.I know you've felt guilty over the years for designing the software for speed over accuracy, but that was my fault."

"I know," Walter interrupted.

"Yeah, well obviously you're smart enough to figure that out," Cabe smiled. "But, I always looked after you. You were like a son to me. And I'm on a better path now, and I think if you would forgive me-"

"I'm not working with you again, Cabe," Walter asserted.

"I know, and I'm not asking you to," Cabe promised.

"Then what do you want?" Walter pressed.

"I want you to give me another chance as a person."

* * *

"Last night I lay in bed so blue cuz I realized the truth: they can't love me like you," Toby sang to Happy loudly and out of key over the phone.

"Toby, you need to stop," Happy chuckled. It was late October now which meant that there was only a month until Toby would come home for Thanksgiving. Their group of friends had scraped together enough money to get him a flight home and back, so that he wouldn't have to spend another two days of his life driving. "I can only listen to you sing that oh so many times."

"But I like singing to you," He pouted.

"But that's a breakup song," Happy argued.

"I'll sing you love songs," Toby promised. "I'll sing you anything you want to hear, sweet pea."

"But you can't sing, baby," Happy smiled. He widened his eyes.

"Did you just call me baby?" He questioned.

"It just kind of came out," She defended herself. "Sorry."

"No, no, I kind of liked it," He waved off her apology. "So what's up, sweetheart? Anything interesting happen at school today? Did you beat up that kid who was bullying Sly? Is Sly doing ok? How are Walter and Paige? Are they Waige yet or are they still teetering on the edge of couplehood?"

"Whoa, whoa, slow down, cowboy," Happy grinned at him. "I can only handle so many questions at a time, and we both know I'm not a big talker."

"Once you talked at me for a solid 45 minutes," He pointed out.

"I did?" She wrinkled her eyebrows together trying to recall.

"Yeah, you were ranting about how nuts are the foundation of everything and will eventually be the only thing worth anything," He laughed.

"That felt like five minutes," She sighed happily. "In response to your questions, my life is normal, nothing interesting happened, yes I did beat up that bully, Sly is doing great, Walter and Paige are both physically fine, and no, they are not together right now."

"So, really everything is just the way it was when I left?" He smirked. "I guess you guys can't move forward without me."

"We really can't," She muttered.

"Aw, you love me," He teased.

"I do," She admitted.

"Did you just?" He squeaked.

"I did."

"Okay."

* * *

"Walter," Paige called as she opened his front door. He had given her the key because she often needed quick access into the apartment, and they had truly become close friends. "I just got back from the-" She trailed off when she saw both Walter and Cabe in the small apartment. "You're both here."

"Hey, kiddo," Cabe greeted with a smile on his face. "Walter and I were just catching up."

"Catching up?" She frowned. "I didn't think you knew each other."

"We used to," Walter grunted. "When I was much younger."

"What do you mean?" She questioned.

Cabe stood up and dusted off his jacket. He patted Walter on the shoulder and gave him a long look. "Walter, I'm going to head off. Whatever you want to say to her is fine by me. I'll see you two later."

"Bye, dad," Paige called hesitantly as he left. "What was all that about?" She sat down next to Walter.

"You're dad and I used to work together," Walter admitted. "But it ended badly. I was angry with him for a long long time."

"Is that why you refused to talk to him every time you saw him?" She asked.

"Yes," Walter sighed. Paige took one of his hands and squeezed it gently. He regarded her with a look of curiosity.

"I'm sorry," She gave him a reassuring smile.

"You had nothing to do with any of it," He shook his head. "You weren't even involved. How can you be sorry?"

"That's how normal people show they sympathize with you," She laughed. "It's how we connect."

"That's stupid," He wrinkled his nose in disgust. She giggled harder. "Why would you apologize for something you didn't do."

"It's more of an I'm sorry you had to go through that kind of thing," She smiled.

"You don't even know what happened," He laughed.

"Do you want to tell me?"

"Ok, but do you want a drink or something first?"

* * *

"Happy, what are you doing?" Sylvester asked quietly as he entered his big sister's room. She dropped a small hammer on her hand in shock.

"Shit," She cursed. She pushed her project aside, and grabbed for the small med kit that she kept under her bed. She started to treat her wounds without acknowledging Sylvester's question.

"I'm so sorry, Happy," He apologized. He sat down on her bed, and watched her gently place a bandaid on the small cut on her index finger.

"It's fine," She waved him off with her good hand. "I'm fine."

"What were you working on?" He repeated.

"Just a little project," She answered curtly.

"You're being secretive," He observed.

"I am not," She rolled her eyes. "Look, Sly, if there were anything worth showing you I would show it."

Sylvester frowned, "It's nothing dangerous for you, right?"

"Everything I do is dangerous," She laughed.

"I'm being serious," He whined. She gently planted a kiss on his head. She ruffled his hair a little before smiling at him.

"I thought I was supposed to be the big sister, Sylvester," She chuckled.

"Families protect each other," He argued.

"I promise I won't do anything that will get me hurt," She swore.

"You know pain can be emotional too," He pointed out.

"Oh, come on, Sly."

* * *

"I met Cabe when I was 11 years old and he worked for the FBI," Walter began, "I was arrested for hacking the NASA. I wanted their blueprints for my bedroom wall. They traced me back to where I lived in Ireland, and they found me, but Cabe made sure they didn't take me away.

"They held me for a couple of days, asked me to my story over and over again, and tested my abilities. But before Cabe fully released me back to my parents, he gave me a brand new computer, and my dad was furious because that was what got me in trouble in the first place, but Cabe insisted that I would be more careful, and that I had to stay in touch with him because he thought it would be a waste to only meet someone like me once."

"I..." He struggled to finish his sentence. He had never really admitted this whole thing out loud before. "I guess your dad kind of became a fatherly figure to me. I had never really connected with my real dad, and Cabe filled the void. He sent me complicated problems to solve and even taught me to stand up to bullies."

"But then one day, he asked me to help him with some software, and of course I did," Walter recalled. "I designed this beautiful program that would drop the military aid packages. But when I turned on the news..." He frowned at the memory. Paige took his hand briefly and squeezed. "Bombs were falling on Baghdad. Worse, I made the program to be quick as opposed to accurate. 2000 civilian casualties." He looked at the ground.

"I'm sorry, Walter," She squeezed his hand again.

"It's not like it was your fault," He shrugged. "Anyway, that's why things have been weird between Cabe and I."

"I'm sorry," She repeated.

"You already said that."

"I know, but I'm still sorry."

* * *

"Come on, Toby," Toby's roommate Michael coaxed. The two had been together since the beginning medical school. Michael was technically closer to a med school age than Toby, but at age 20 they were still the two youngest boys in the school.

"I don't wanna," Toby groaned. He was lying facedown on his bed. It was 9 pm on a Friday night.

"Come on!" Michael complained. "Last year's Toby would have been all over this party. There's even going to be poker. I know you love poker."

"I quit gambling, dipshit," He pointed out. "Besides, I have work to do."

"Then why aren't you doing your work?" Michael questioned.

"Because I'm sad," He whined.

"You're actually one of the world's best behaviorists, and the word you chose was 'sad'?" He laughed. Toby rolled over to glare at his friend. "Okay, okay, what's got you down?"

"I just miss home," He sighed.

"You've never missed home before, Tobes," Michael shook his head.

"Home is where Happy is," He smiled a little.

"So legitimately next to you actual house," Michael chuckled.

"If that's where she is, then yes," Toby sulked.

"Dude, chill. You get to see her in like three weeks," Michael assured him.

"It's not soon enough," He whined.

"You facetime her every single day," Michael assured Toby.

"It's not enough," He argued.

"She called you like four hours ago as soon as she finished with school," Michael scoffed. "You're being absurd."

"No, I think it's perfectly reasonable to miss the person you lo-"

"She's calling you now," Michael interrupted.

"Hand me my phone, and get out," Toby ordered.

"Why? You've talked to her while I've been in the room before," Michael pointed out.

"She never calls me twice in a day," Toby insisted. "It's something important, so scram."

"My choice in roommate continues to astound me," Michael muttered as he left the room.

Toby answered the call as soon as Michael was out of hearing distance, "Hey, sugar plum. What's up?"

She played with something in her hands as she tried to start her next sentence. "I...I...um...well."

"Is something wrong because I will get on a plane right now," He promised.

"No, I just talked to Sylvester today," She gritted her teeth.

"Unsurprising as he lives with you," TOby commented. SHe glared at him. "Right, right, I'm going to be serious."

"He told me I had to be careful about emotional pain," She started.

"I promise I will never hurt you ever."

"How did you-"

"Know you were going there? I just know you, sweetheart."


	11. Chapter 11

**Hey guys! I liked writing this because I like writing Toby and Happy together because they're just so cute. I mean the show is in a rough place right now, but for now this is ok. They are totally ok. This doesn't mean there won't be bumps, but I plan on writing this for a long time. I was to get to at least 80,000 words which can't be hard considering it's nearly 2,000 per chapter. I know where this is going guys, and I am going to see this through. There is an actual plot here.**

 **-Aislin**

Happy patiently awaited Toby's arrival. She couldn't wait to finally see him again. He was only going to stay for a week, but it was better than nothing. She had been sitting here for two hours. Well, that was probably her fault. She had taken the car with her pretty, new driver's license and driven to the airport early to pick him up. Just in case.

Walter had told her bringing a sign for him would be a good idea because people liked signs or something, but screw that. She was pretty sure that Toby would be ecstatic to see her with or without a sign. He had been telling her as much for the past two weeks. He sent emails, texts, even voicemails informing her of how excited he was. She would have found it excessive if she weren't just as enthusiastic.

She hadn't let any of the others come with her, and, though they wanted to see Toby('nearly as much as Happy did' they tried to tell her), they understood why Happy didn't want them there. If the entire group was with her, she wouldn't be able to tell him how much she loved him. She wasn't a fan of displaying affection in front of their friends and family.

"Happy!" His voice called her out of her thoughts. She searched him out of the crowd of people coming off the plane. When they made eye contact, she couldn't help be start to grin, and suddenly she was running towards him, and he was beaming at her. Before she knew it she was in his arms, and he was lifting her up. She wrapped her arms around his neck, and he kissed her passionately. She didn't want to let go ever, and he didn't seem like he was planning on it either.

"Get a room!" Someone irrelevant complained.

Happy removed on of her hands to give the passerby the finger. Toby, however, pulled away. She shot him a glare. "Relax, honey bear. We don't want to piss too many people off. Pluss I'm assume you have a car in the parking garage."

"Yeah, but it will take us so long to get there," She whined. He pecked her lips.

"Come on, babydoll," He carried her with him as he began to walk to the parking garage. He had one arm around her back, and he was using his other hand to drag his suitcase. She wasn't going to comment on how impressive she found this, but from the smirk on his face she figured her knew. She buried her face in his neck, and didn't look up until he set her down in the parking garage. "I don't know where the car is, or what it even looks like. If we are going to make out in a car, you've gotta get us to the car."

She grabbed his hand, and pulled him in the right direction. Once they got to the rusty old truck that Ellen and James had bought for her, she threw his suitcase into the back. It took her a couple of minutes to secure it and Toby happily babbled about how thrilled he was to finally see her again. When she was done, she pushed him against the car.

"Oh, I missed this," he lamented.

"What being constantly injured from me pushing you into things?" She questioned.

"No, I missed kissing you," He planted a quick kiss on her forehead, "And touching you," He moved his hands up and down her sides, "And most of all I just missed you."

"You're such a sap," She chuckled.

"And I love you," He smiled.

"And I love you too. Now would you just shut up and make out with me."

"Well, if you insist."

* * *

"Remind me to never let you drive me anywhere ever again," Toby gasped for air as she pulled over into the ice cream store parking lot.

"Oh calm down, you big baby," She chastised. "It's not that bad. Besides, I passed the test."

"Yeah, but I'm nearly 100% certain of the fact that the person who judged your driving was male and you were wearing something like you're wearing right now, and it wasn't really a judgment of your driving that occurred," He argued. He had the biggest goofiest smile of his face, and she wasn't sure, but she imagined that her's was a mirror image.

"That's inaccurate," She chuckled. "Now, come on. You're going to have to be alot nicer to me if you want me to keep you around this week."

"Yes ma'am," He mock saluted her. "I'll be on my best behavior, ma'am." He quickly kissed her before getting out of her truck. She rolled her eyes, but soon followed after him.

"Surprise!" Sylvester, Paige, Walter, Cabe, and Eileen shouted as he entered the establishment.

"I'm not surprised," He corrected.

"Shut up, and enjoy it," Paige ordered.

"Gotcha," He grinned.

"Toby, we got you your favorite," Sylvester pushed the 'triple chocolate explosion' icecream his way. Toby pulled Sylvester in for a hug.

"I missed you so much, little buddy," Toby lamented. Sylvester smiled and nodded into Toby's embrace because, yeah, he had missed Toby too. When Toby finally let go, he exchanged a long look with Walter. Walter nodded at him. He then moved onto Cabe who gave him a grunt of a hello.

"Toby, sit down. You're ice cream is going to melt," Eileen scolded. "Tell us about med school."

"It's the same as it always is. You know lot's of learning and sh-stuff," He smiled at her.

"Oh, come on," Eileen pressed. "You've been gone for months. Surely, you've got lots of stories to tell us."

"Yeah, but I gotta spread out my stories, so that you all think I'm more interesting than I am," He giggled.

"That's not going to happen," Walter grinned.

"Say what you will, but I know you missed me, Walt," Toby teased.

"I think we all did," Walter admitted.

"Oh, Walter O'Brien, you big sap you."

"I take it back."

* * *

"Oh, I was hoping you'd come here," He smiled at her as he opened up the window. "I didn't know if you were going to stay in your own bed or not."

She rolled her eyes as she stepped into his room carefully, "Of course I was going to come here."

"I couldn't be sure," Toby pressed.

"Doc, you're here for the first time in about three months. I'm not going to be separated from you," She promised.

"God, I love you," He declared. He pulled her down onto the bed, but they kept it completely innocent. He was lying on his back, and she was tucked into his side.

"I missed you, you know," She repeated. She leaned up and planted a kiss on his cheek.

"I missed you too, cuddlebug," He smiled down at her. He played with one of the wild curls on the end of her ponytail. They were just as soft as he had remembered them being. He had almost begun to think that he had imagined that about her.

"What is with you and the ridiculous nicknames?" She questioned. "I mean can't you just pick one? This is getting absurd. I am not going to be your Ann Perkins."

"Parks and Rec reference? You watched Parks and Rec? You enjoyed it enough to remember Leslie's absurd nicknames for Ann?" He gave her a mystified look.

"I had alot of time on my hands," She attempted to shrug, but his arms around her sort of constricted her movement.

"That's one day and nineteen hours worth of time," He calculated.

"How do you know that?" She asked.

"Because I watched all of it too," He grinned. "I mean I mockumentary sit-com about an office full of local government employees? Count me in."

"Figures," She rolled her eyes. "I suppose that means you've watched all of modern family as well."

"All one day and nineteen hours of it," He nodded. "So, my rule breaking moth, tell me how your life has been."

"You're absurd," She chuckled. "Besides you have already heard everything from out facetiming."

"I'd be _happy_ to hear you talk about anything," He pushed.

"Haha, you've only made that joke like 117 times," She deadpanned. "You know I'm not much of a talker."

"I think you are in your head," He speculated.

"Don't shrink me, you douchebag," She glared.

"I'm not psychoanalyzing you," He promised. "It's just a theory I have. I don't think you're naturally quiet."

"If you're the kind of person they let into Harvard," Happy grumbled, "Then I'm not thrilled about the future of healthcare professionals."

"Put away your claws," He tapped his fingers on her hands. "I think that you probably have a lot of things to say, but you don't because something happened. So you're mostly quiet, but you give yourself away. Sometimes you start talking before you can stop yourself. And you give yourself away."

"I don't like it when you try to play my psychiatrist," She started. He pouted at the back of her head. "But, if you shut up for a minute and don't try to shrink me, then I might, just might, tell you about my childhood."

"Really?" He sounded surprised. She glared at him again. "Right, right, shutting up. Being quiet. Not going to talk. Love you."

"My dad kept me until I was nearly three," She whispered. "You were right. I was very loud when I was little. And I was talking full sentences by 10 months old. I was kind of like you. I never ever shut my mouth. I would sing around the house, and build little things out of food and stuff, and we were ok. I mean he was depressed and he drank alot because of my mom's death, but it was ok. He bought me a dollhouse when I was about two and a half because he was pretty sure I could handle dolls. I mean I wasn't exactly your average kid. I wired it the day after. I was so proud of my work. I couldn't wait to tell him, and when he saw he was smiling at me for a minute before it turned into a frown. He unwired it, and told me it was a fire hazard. But I rewired it the next day. He eventually had to get rid of it. And I get it. I really do now, but that's when I started getting quieter. He took me to the orphanage a couple months after that."

"I'm sorry," He muttered.

"What no stupid psychobabble?"

"No," He tightened his grip on her again. "You asked me not to. I don't need it anyway. I don't need any degree to understand you."

"You don't have a degree," She corrected.

"Ah, but I nearly have a degree," He argued.

"Not the same thing," She smirked.

"I love you, you know," He grinned.

"Oh, I know," She laughed.

"And you love me too," He added.

"Yes, I have said that."

"You wanna say it again?"

"You'd enjoy it too much." He pouted at her again. "I love you."


	12. Chapter 12

**Hey guys! It's been a very long time since I updated, and while I feel like I don't owe an explanation. I like you guys and I would like to give you one. So it's been a really rough few weeks for me. My grandmother was in the country for the first time since I was in fifth grade. I mean obviously we have visited her, but this was special. I was sick alot. And school didn't really wind down. It just kept going. I kind of got a new crush which distracted me alot. Now I'm writing a 4,000 word essay which is why this is slightly shorter than usual. So please tell me what you think. I'll try not to be gone this long again. Love you all.**

 **-Aislin**

"So, you're back for good?" She grinned over at him. He pecked a kiss onto her nose. It was early December, and he had just finished medical school. They had a special graduation ceremony for him and everything. Cabe had flown the rest of them up to see it, and Toby had paraded Happy around to his college friends like a little kid shows their first lost tooth.

"Well, I gotta work in the hospital, but, yeah, I'm back," Toby grinned. "We can be together until you go off to college, and then we'll figure out our next move."

"Mm," She nodded. They were presently decorating her bedroom for Christmas. Toby's idea of course. He had brought over fairy lights, tinsel, a tiny tree, ornaments, etc, and she wasn't going to shut him down for doing something nice.

"Are you excited for Christmas, sugar plum?" He asked.

"I've never really celebrated," She shrugged.

"You've never celebrated Christmas?!" He seemed outraged.

"Baby, I've heard you talk about you normally spend Christmas, and I have to tell you that I'm not sure either of us have ever had a real Christmas," She smirked at him. He only smiled harder.

Sometimes she wondered how it ended up that she ended up with such a doofus. Her past boyfriends had been badboys and trouble makers. The kind that took you out and always made sure to keep out past your curfew and break a few laws. The only time Toby broke laws presently was to put on semi-illegal firework shows for her and their friends. She was surprised he was the one she loved.

"But that's kind of nice in it's own way," He chuckled. "We can celebrate our first real Christmas' together."

"Does this mean I have to get you a present?" She teased. He pulled her, so that they were dancing to the christmas music he had insisted on playing. It was a small space to work in, but he still spun her around, and held her close just like he always loved to do. "You know I don't like dancing."

"Well for someone who doesn't like it, you aren't resisting." He was the one smirking now.

"Shut up," She grumbled.

"Aw, you're adorable," He grinned. He knew she really didn't mind this by the way she rested her head on his chest.

"Am not."

"Are too."

* * *

"Walter, I know we're going to see each other on Christmas, but I wanted to give you your present here," Paige tapped her fingers nervously against the side of her couch. She was a little more than three months from her due date. She felt huge, and she knew it was only going to get worse from here.

"I'm no expert on Christmas tradition," Walter chuckled. "But I'm pretty sure the way it works is that you wait until the holiday to get presents."

"Shut it, smarty pants," She giggled. "Now, present."

"You know geniuses don't really believe in the whole Christmas thing, right?" Walter informed her skeptically.

"Then why are Happy, Toby, and Sly in the middle of decorating their entire house for the holiday?" She questioned. Walter shook his head, and grinned up at her.

He sighed for a moment before responding, "Alright, what did you get me?"

"That's not how it works," Paige shook her head.

"Right, you hand me the gift. I unwrap it. I thank you," He listed. She gave him a withering look.

"That's not how I do it," She corrected.

"Oh, then obviously we should do it that way," He chuckled. He looked her up and grinned. She smiled back at him. For someone who claimed to have no emotions, he had a funny way of proving it.

"Obviously," She affirmed.

"So what's the first step in present receiving?" He prompted her.

"Well, for this present specifically," She started, "I'd like you to close your eyes."

"Alright, what next?" He placed with his hands in his lap. He didn't particularly enjoy having his eyes closed. He missed too much. Paige didn't respond. "Hey, where are you?" He reached aimlessly around.

Suddenly, for Walter at least, Paige was kissing him. He made a surprised yelp before going along with it. He awkwardly placed his hands on her hips. But just as soon as she had crashed into him, she was gone.

"Merry Christmas," He stated slowly in shock.

* * *

"Happy, what did you write in your letter to Santa?" Eileen asked happily. She was in the process of stringing popcorn to put around the tree. Toby, Happy, and Sylvester were sitting at the kitchen table.

"You realize no one in this house believes in S-" Happy began to argue. Eileen cleared her throat and gestured wildly at Sylvester. "You know he's a genius too, right?"

"She's right," Sylvester affirmed.

"She's very rarely wrong," Toby added.

"Oh shush," Eileen scowled at them. "You don't need to crush the Christmas spirit."

"Well, actually, Eileen, oftentimes people will rag on something just because they have never had a good experience with it," Toby announced. "So maybe if you show us a good Christmas, this will be the last time you ever have to deal with our grinchiness."

"So, Happy, what did you write in your letter to Santa," Eileen probed again choosing to ignore Toby.

"I don't really want anything," Happy shrugged unhelpfully. She didn't look up from the popcorn string.

"There has to be something you want in this world," Eileen pressed.

"Not really," She frowned.

"Alright, then I guess _Santa_ will just have to guess," Eileen smiled reassuringly. "What about you, Sylvester?"

"I'd really like a robot or a drone, but really I don't need anything," Sylvester admitted nervously.

"Don't be ridiculous," Eileen dismissed. "And Toby?"

"I'm not your kid," He shook his head confused.

"But you're spending Christmas here," Eileen argued.

"But I-"

"Everyone deserves presents on Christmas, Toby."

"Th-"

"There's no need to thank me"

* * *

"Is there any reason why you're putting something on my feet?" Happy murmured sarcastically. Toby had wrapped a blindfold around her face and shoved her in the car about an hour ago. She was told(by him) he was being romantic and she wasn't to complain. That didn't stop her from complaining.

"Well, obviously there's a reason, my beautiful Happy Quinn, but you don't know the reason yet because you're blindfolded and haven't been able to see where we are," Toby responded cheerily.

"Is it because you're trying to hide, very badly by the way, that we're going ice skating?" She chuckled.

"How could you know that?" He yelped.

"Because I'm smarter than you," She teased.

"Obviously, " he agreed. "But how did you know? I was so careful."

"You weren't that careful," She disagree.

"I was," He countered.

"You set a reminder in your phone," She explained, "It popped up."

"So much for trying to surprise you," He shook his head and laughed.

"Oh please," She said snarkily. "You could never. You don't have enough brains for it."

"Sometimes I wonder if you forget I'm a genius," He muttered good naturedly.

"It's very easy too."

* * *

"Don't be a jackass," Happy grunted at her ever cheerful and laughing boyfriend. Toby nearly fell over with laughter. Who wouldn't? Finding out that the great Happy Quinn couldn't ice skate was kind of like seeing an octopus on rollerskates. Yeah, you feel bad that the octopus is struggling, but you have to laugh at it anyway(even though the octopus will beat you up later).

"Happy, come on!" He scolded teasingly. "There are children present."

"Do I look like I care?" She shouted. "Curtis, I swear to god."

"Does the great Happy Quinn need my help skating across the ice?" He taunted.

"Of course I don't," She smirked and rolled her eyes. He raised an eyebrow. "Are you really going to question your girlfriend being closer to you."

He had never skated faster.


End file.
